Up to now Gothenburg has focused on deep sea lo-lo, with direct calls and feeders each accounting for around 50% of lo-lo throughput. Its trade is in rough balance and this may well be an attractive feature for intra-European short sea lo-lo operators. The port has not stated whether the business could have an impact on its intra-European ro-ro traffic, however.

“In the wake of the pandemic, new logistics patterns have evolved with shippers moving parts of their global production system closer to Europe,” said said Elvir Dzanic, CEO of Gothenburg Port Authority (GHAB).

“Short sea is a growing segment, and we are pleased that APM Terminals is continuing to meet the needs of the market, and at the same time broadening the port’s overall service offering.”

Dennis Olesen, Managing Director at APM Terminals Nordic, said: “We are proud to be able to expand our already extensive portfolio with a sustainable and competitive short sea solution. We see that container traffic in Europe is growing in importance and it is a natural progression that we provide our customers with a service that offers even greater flexibility.”

The Skandiahamnen western quay was recently renovated and reinforced in the lead-up to the Skandia Gateway fairway project. The area is currently being reviewed to determine what needs to be adapted, adjusted, or added to ensure the most efficient shortsea handling system possible.

“As a global player with strong links to the Nordic region and Europe, we already have good experience from shortsea solutions that we have rolled out previously. At present, we are working on all fronts to identify and tailor our solutions to match the needs of the Swedish market,” said Dennis Olesen.

It will also be possible to handle coastal and inland shipping at the new terminal, handling barges and smaller ships.

GHAB reports that the port’s lo-lo container traffic increased by 0.5% in 2020 to 770,000 TEU. Quoting the employer association Ports of Sweden and the government agency Transport Analysis, it says this figure means it increased it Swedish market share by one percentage point to 48% (total market 1.6M TEU).