Novel, Lean and Green

The Port of Aalborg Ltd. has recently acquired a new liner service. This is a telling example of how transport logistics can help the environment and it is a result of joined forces between Icelandic Samskip, Dutch Vos Logistics, Port of Aalborg Ltd. and the receivers in Aalborg, Fibertex.

Centered in the port of Terneuzen (The Netherlands) and Aalborg the new set-up is custom-tailored to the Danish company's needs. Based around an intermodal solution which includes a short sea connection linking the two ports, it replaces one involving several road operators.

The product involved is plastic granulate packed in liner-innerbags and carriedby road in 40 ft. containers from suppliers in Belgium to Terneuzen, and from there by Samskip vessel to the port of Aalborg.

By doing so the companies will remove a projected 1 million km of heavy truck driving each year from the roads thanks to the shorty-sea leg of the route. A strategy well in keeping with EU policy of promoting short-sea transport as an alternative to road haulage.

As well as being of benefit to the environment, it is a great advantage for the receiver, They now have a storage of buffer stock in the port of Aalborg, meaning that the consignments to the plant now can be arranged on a call-off basis.

The Port of Aalborg Ltd. has played a supporting role in attracting Samskip as another shipping line into its facility. The venture represents a major development for the port operators, Arctic Container Operation, and it also opens for a new market for Samskip in the form of a new liner service, which could include Sweden, UK and the Baltic.