New route to North America illustrates the new opportunities available to companies operating at Port Esbjerg

The fairway deepened to 13 metres. Additional terminal areas. New ramps. Port Esbjerg is currently investing heavily in expanding and upgrading the port. This opens up new opportunities for the companies at the port.

In light of this, Jul Pedersen is also very pleased that NWLA is now expanding with a new route to North America. The US is the largest export market for Danish companies, a trend which is also witnessed in several other European countries.

“We have the opportunity to support this export and import because our location is particularly favourable compared to many other European ports. NWLA’s new route is therefore the perfect answer to this need,” says Jul Pedersen.

He believes that the new opportunities will generally bring more traffic and more cargo.

In his view, the companies at Port Esbjerg have vast experience with modular cargo, with tonnages increasing continuously.

“A shipping company like Grimaldi, for example, which has called on Esbjerg during the past 25 years, is currently investing in new vessels with greater capacity and new technology. Grimaldi has a fleet of 150 vessels and an additional 37 vessels in its newbuilding programme. This is a sign of the shift towards more modular cargo, including on ocean passages,” Jul Pedersen explains.

NWLA has signed a commercial agency agreement with Atlantic Container Line (ACL) to expand its offering within Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo), project cargo and container transport.

“This partnership is an important expansion for NWLA, and it cements our position further in the RoRo segment. NWLA offers tailored transport and handling solutions within RoRo, project cargo and containers,” says Henrik Otto Jensen, CEO of NWLA.

A fast connection to North America

ACL is a leading carrier in the transatlantic market for specialised cargo, including project cargo, RoRo, machinery, vehicles and containers. The company now offers direct, weekly services to New York, Baltimore, Norfolk and Halifax. As Halifax is offering express routes to central Canada and the US Midwest, ACL ensures a reliable connection between Europe and North America.

“This new addition marks yet another milestone in the long collaboration between NWLA and the Grimaldi Group, which currently operates global RoRo liner services on six continents. Adding ACL to our liner service portfolio, we are now in an even better position to meet our customers’ needs,” Jensen explains.

ACL’s combined RoRo/containerships (CONRO) are the only vessels of their kind in the world and can transport a variety of cargo types. The vessels are 296 metres long and have a capacity of 3,800 TEUs (both dry and reefer) as well as special decks for 1,000 cars and 4,000 lane metres for cargo, including agricultural and construction equipment and machinery, trains, boats, trailers and break-bulk cargo. The vessel’s 420 tonne ramp makes it possible to load very large and heavy objects with a door height of 8 metres and a width of 21.6 metres.

In other words, there will be room for the large items of cargo in response to the emerging trend.

Many of the vessels being built these days are generally bigger than they used to be and therefore require an increased water depth. The timing of the deepening of the Grådyb fairway – the entrance to Esbjerg and the port basins – is therefore highly appropriate.

“It takes time to establish new routes and spread the word that Esbjerg is now able to accommodate much larger vessels. Therefore, we will also build new terminals next year, which will allow us to develop the modular cargo segment even further. We believe that we will achieve lasting value. And that’s the idea. We like customers like DFDS that have called at Port Esbjerg for close to 150 years,” Jul Pedersen concludes.