A direct line to continental Europe offers cut emissions and a strengthened ecosystem

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It was in November 2019 that the first delivery with the new liner service between Vaasa and Antwerpen took place. At that point carrying four Wärtsilä engines. Since then, many engines and containers have been shipped southbound from Vaasa out to the world. This has saved a lot of road kilometres and by that has an positive impact on reducing our emissions. Before, the 300 containers would have been shipped from Rauma and all inbound deliveries used to arrive to the ports in southern Finland after which they would be transported north by road.

This long-term co-operation with WALLENIUS SOL connects the port of Vaasa with the Belgian ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge and has now been doing so for approximately one year. However, the idea of shipping deliveries southbound from Vaasa had been discussed already many years before, but Wärtsilä´s release of the construction of the Smart Technology Hub next to the port of Vaasa ignited the discussion. This time the focus was on ensuring a steady flow of goods northbound, in order to enable the shipping of our products southbound.

The incoming deliveries northbound turned out to offer a steady flow of goods and made it possible to start the development of the liner service operation. All inbound deliveries from Central Europe to Vaasa are today routed via a consolidation point in Antwerp and the ready-made engines are shipped southbound from Wärtsilä to its customers worldwide, also with Antwerp as hub.

The service is expanded with Travemünde

The concept for the liner service has been developing during its first year in service. An important development is the expansion of the service for Ostrobothnia. From mid-January Travemünde will be added on the northbound route Zeebrugge–Antwerpen–Travemünde–Vaasa. Today, the liner service offers a strong cooperation between the companies in the Nordic region and the cooperation is important in order to secure a steady flow of goods.

The Smart Technology Hub, which is built 500 metres from the port of Vaasa, has a key-role in building an ecosystem way of working both when it comes to global and local operations. The WALLENIUS SOL liner service is an important part of that ecosystem, offering a direct line to continental Europe.