From January to November, 543,000 ro-ro-units were handled in the port of Gothenburg, compared to 535,000 in 2016 in total. Thus it is already clear that 2017 will be the third straight year with increased ro-ro-volumes in the port of Gothenburg, the Port Authority said in a press release.
“The ro-ro trend in Europe has been extremely strong over the past three years. Here in Gothenburg, this can be attributed to stable shipping companies such as Stena Line, DFDS, CLdN and SOL. The high sailing frequency and first-rate service levels offered by these companies will certainly benefit freight owners,” said Claes Sundmark, Vice President, Container, Ro-Ro and Rail at Gothenburg Port Authority.
In Gothenburg, strong flows, with input goods for industry and forest products as the backbone, along with a very good European business climate, have led to this significant increase in frequency. At the same time, the shipping companies are finding the resolve to modernise their fleets with the introduction of new, larger vessels that are more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
“These positive effects have underpinned each other in an upward spiral that is benefiting the shipping companies and ultimately the freight owners. In intra-European trade, competitive, high-frequency services have been a major factor in steering freight away from land in favour of sea,” said Claes Sundmark.
Fact file: Ro-ro traffic
Ro-ro stands for roll on/roll off, and refers to load units that are driven on and off vessels that operate on regular liner services, mainly in Europe. In Gothenburg, ro-ro traffic is the domain of the shipping companies CLdN, DFDS, Stena Line and SOL. At the Port of Gothenburg, ro-ro traffic underwent a powerful period of growth in the 1970s. Since then, Swedish import and export companies have been able to reach a large number of European ports via ro-ro services from Gothenburg.
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