Swedish shipping companies Wallenius and Greencarrier are setting up a joint ro-ro company to move trailer cargo that would be transported by road between Scandinavian countries and Poland.
Lakeway Link will operate a new Malarmax ro-ro ship type when it starts operations from the end of 2023 between the Polish cities of Gdynia and Gdansk and Sodertalje and Vasteras via Lake Malaren in Sweden.
Fixed departures twice a week will be run across the Baltic Sea initially with chartered tonnage that will be replaced with newbuildings when the Sodertalje Canal which connects Lake Malaren with the Baltic Sea, has an enlarged new lock.
The canal already has the largest ship lock in Scandinavia but it is being increased in size to 160 metres long, from 135 metres, and 23 wide, up from 17 metres.
The new company aims to reduce the carbon footprint of shipping, compared with road transport, to and from the Malar region of Sweden near Stockholm to the continent and also further afield to Norway.
“Lakeway Link will open the waterway between important logistics points in Europe that previously could not be reached efficiently by sea,” said Fredrik Hermansson, chief executive of Greencarrier Liner Agency Sweden.
Global senior commercial manager at Wallenius Marine, Goran Soderdahl said the development will not just strengthen the logistics network to and from the Malar region, but facilitate traffic to and from the whole of Sweden and other destinations such as Norway.
“We will design and build new vessels based on the latest technology, contributing to more sustainable logistics in both the Baltic Sea and our inland waterways where Lake Malaren plays a major role,” he said.
The ships will be designed to handle different types of cargo as well as socially beneficial missions, such as sea rescue, he added.
The new service also addresses another current problem: a severe shortage of truck drivers, and Lakeway Link will offer the transport of trailers so that tractor units do not need to be transported.
The family owned Greencarrier Group has more than 40 years’ experience in specialised logistics solutions.
Wallenius, which developed the ro-ro concept in the 1960s, set up Wallenius Sol in 2019 as a joint venture with Swedish Orient Line to specialise in sustainable transport in the Gulf of Bothnia and Baltic Sea.
