Unifeeder expands into the UK

Unifeeder, the leading feeder and shortsea operator in Northern Europe is opening three new services to the UK. Having broadened its activities in a range of areas in 2009, this new development cements its leading position in the North European market.

After focusing intensively on the Baltic area in 2009, with the purchase of IMCL, a Cypriot-Polish shipping company, the opening of its own office in St. Petersburg, and the establishment of a range of new services between the Benelux countries, Norway, Finland and Russia, Unifeeder is now looking to the west.  The Danish asset light logistics company is opening three new services to the UK’s east coast, handling a significant volume from a major global container shipping line.

The new service will commence in mid-June and Unifeeder is currently working on the final preparations.  The company revealed details of the service at a number of events, including the Multimodal 2010 transport trade fair in Birmingham (27th-29th April) and the Transrussia event in Moscow (27th-30th April).

Strategic expansion of the network

Jesper Kristensen, CEO of Unifeeder says: “We have taken a strategic decision to expand our network, and expansion towards the west is the latest initiative in our drive to realise this.  We are now further strengthening our network coverage, which is already the largest in Northern Europe.  Adding the UK as an integrated destination will complement the network.”

The company works in the feeder and shortsea traffic segment and has an annual volume of approximately 1.6 million TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units).  The feeder division operates regular container liner services between Scandinavia, the Baltic States and Russia and major continental hubs such as Hamburg, Rotterdam and Antwerp.  The growing shortsea division takes care of door-to-door transports within in Europe, handling everything that can be shipped in a container.  This traffic combines the various forms of transport to create multimodal logistical solutions.

Regular service to five ports

The new service to the UK will see Unifeeder operating three container ships on regular routes between Hamburg and Rotterdam and the ports of Felixstowe, Grangemouth, Immingham, Teesport and South Shields.

The ports will be served by regular routes with fixed-day schedules and several weekly arrivals in all the ports.

Unifeeder will be providing significant annual capacity from the start, underlining the strategic significance of the decision to expand into the UK.  For the existing part of the network, the new service brings new opportunities to link existing destinations in Scandinavia and around the Baltic Sea to the UK.

Since its establishment in 1977, Unifeeder has been in constant development.  On the basis of a very successful business strategy, the company today has the strength to expand services and make acquisitions in a market that is distinguished by increasingly difficult conditions.

Last year, Unifeeder introduced a certified calculator for the calculation of CO₂ emissions for a given transport assignment, and through the inclusion of both sea and overland traffic, can provide traffic solutions that generate the lowest possible environmental impact.

For further information, visit: www.unifeeder.com

Published: 24/05/2010