DFDS has taken over GWM, the company providing operations, gate and tallying services for DFDS in Ghent. “We have been working with them for many years as they were already operating at the Mercatordok Multimodal Terminal for Volvo Group Logistics before DFDS took over the terminal,” says Sam De Wilde, Managing Director at DFDS Seaways NV.
OT Port Gdynia Sp. z o.o. –with the support of the European Union– is implementing the project “Retrofitting of the intermodal ro-ro terminal in Gdynia by OT Port Gdynia Sp. z o.o.”, which consists in equipping the Company with specialist transshipment equipment for handling cargo in intermodal units (semi-trailers, containers) and IT equipment supporting the handling of these cargoes.
- TT Line’s PETER PAN had an engine fire on 9 July. The fire could by extinguished. Nobody was hurt. The ship returned safely to port.
- The third DFDS freight ferry from Jinling is preparing for sea trials, which will take place in August. So far nothing has been announced about its route, but that might become Ghent-Gotenburg.
- DP World has completed the buy-back of P&O Ferries in a GBP 322 million deal originally announced in February.
As from 5 July, DFDS will offer a new freight ferry service between Istanbul and Sète (France).
DFDS will offer a total of four sailings between Turkey and France: two to Sète and two to Toulon.
As written in Ferry Shipping News, week 22, the service was operated by Alternative Transport, which decided to stop.
Early May DFDS entered a five-year agreement with Stora Enso to transport around 700,000 tons of paper and paperboard products annually. This week (week 25), DFDS
launched the new route between Zeebrugge and Gothenburg.
The two tailormade 2,450 lane metre ro-ro ships owned by Wagenborg and operating on the route since the beginning have been acquired by DFDS and given DFDS names.
SCHIEBORG became BELGIA SEAWAYS and SLINGEBORG is now GOTHIA SEAWAYS.
FIONIA SEAWAYS has been transferred from the Gothenburg – Ghent route to the new route and will take part in the 8 to 12 weekly departures. She left Gothenburg for the first time on 15 June, Zeebrugge-bound.
DFDS: Collaboration With Volvo Trucks On Autonomous Transport Between Logistics Centre And Port Terminal
DFDS has entered into a collaboration with Volvo Trucks concerning their electric, connected and autonomous vehicle Vera.
The aim is to develop and test an integrated solution for transporting goods from a logistics centre to a port terminal in Gothenburg, Sweden, using Vera.
Facts about the Vera project:
- The assignment is to move containers from a DFDS logistics centre in Gothenburg to an APM terminal in the port according to needed capacity.
- The autonomous system is monitored by an operator in a control tower who is also responsible for the transport.
- The solution is suited for repetitive flows with a maximum speed of 40 km/h.
- Infrastructure adaptations are part of the scope in the implementation of the total transport system, including automated gates at the terminals.
- Volvo Trucks and DFDS are main partners but several actors are involved in implementing Vera’s first assignment.
- The initiative is carried out with support from the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova, the Swedish Transport Administration and the Swedish Energy Agency through the Strategic vehicle research and innovation programme FFI.
DFDS New Business Unit Brings Routes Closer to Sales & Marketing Organisation
DFDS has created a new Business Unit (BU), called “Short Routes and Passenger”.
It contains almost all the DFDS passenger activities under one single management.
- Business Unit Group Passenger
- Route Dieppe-Newhaven
- Route Dover-Calais
- Route Dover-Dunkirk
- Route Copenhagen-Oslo
- Route Amsterdam-Newcastle
The new Business Unit will be headed by VP Kasper Moos, who will maintain his office in Dover and report to Peder Gellert, EVP and Head of Ferry Division.
The basic idea of the reshuffle is to bring the routes closer to the sales and marketing organisation.
BU Baltic will continue managing and operating all Baltic Sea routes using BU Short Routes and Passenger as its global sales agency.
As from 15 June, DFDS will operate the Zeebrugge – Göteborg service with Stora Enso as main customer. (see our news from 9 May)
Three ships will be put on the service: GOTHIA SEAWAYS and BELGIA SEAWAYS (which are the two existing vessels on the route, SCHIEBORG/SLINGEBORG) and FIONIA SEAWAYS.
Bunker Rating Tool Brings Transparency in the Bunkers Industry
DFDS has begun to use BunkerTrust, a service which allows shipping companies to judge and view other people’s ratings of suppliers and bunkers.
Today, about 250 ships rate their bunkers deliveries on a regular basis via BunkerTrust, and DFDS is among the 23 shipowners using the platform.
DFDS To Take Over the Ro-Ro Service from Turkish Company Alternative Transport
Alternative Transport is experiencing financial difficulties. The Turkish company announced to stop operating the route between Sète, France and Cesme, Turkey. To assure its continuation, DFDS will start to run the route as from 1 July.
The route represents 20,000 to 25,000 trucks a year.
DFDS will test the route for six months, with two sailings a week.
Two 310-unit vessels will be put on the route.
It also means Toulon will lose one of the three weekly calls.
Alternative Transport operated two ships: FADIQ and AYSHE. The first is still sailing on the route. The latter is in Perama.