Shipping line UECC is commencing operations in the Port of Gothenburg. UECC will be transporting vehicles and other rolling cargo to and from the Central European freight hub Zeebrugge via the ports of Esbjerg and Drammen. The traffic reaches Gothenburg every week, starting this week.

”We are pleased to welcome UECC to the Port of Gothenburg. They will offer additional opportunities that will strengthen the Port of Gothenburg’s position as Sweden’s largest vehicle port. The traffic expands our line range and responds to our customer’s growing interest in vehicle- and rolling cargo transport,” said Claes Sundmark, Vice president Sales and Marketing at the Gothenburg Port Authority.

The new traffic Is launched in the light of new contracts with some major European vehicle manufacturers. The traffic complements the shipping company’s existing Atlantic service, which connects Vigo, Zeebrugge, Bremerhafen, Malmoe and Drammen. Via transhipment in Zeebrugge, the traffic can be connected to other ports in Europe and the world.

UECC’s vessels will call at the Port of Gothenburg’s rail connected vehicle and ro-ro-terminal, and it is the terminal operator Logent Ports and terminals that will do handle loading and unloading. Via the port of Gothenburg, the entire Swedish market is then effectively reached through the well-developed railway system Railport Scandinavia.

The new loop will initially be operated by the M/V Minchah vessel, but will probably be replaced by one of the UECC’s new LNG / battery hybrid vessels in production. LNG operation with battery hybrid technology in combination with a hull shape optimized for better fuel efficiency reduces carbon dioxide emissions by about 25 percent, SOx and particles by 90 percent and NOx by 85 percent compared to using only LNG, the UECC states.