Rail & Intermodal
November/December 2019
P&O Ferrymasters E Europe connections
P
&O Ferrymasters has launched a new
intermodal service between its privately-
owned terminal in Oradea, Romania and Lodz,
Poland.
The expansion to Lodz, one of P&O Ferrymaster’s
most central bases for its customers in Poland,
follows the company’s success in entering the
central and eastern Europe Markets, in addition to
the already operational connections between
Oradea and Zeebrugge and Piacenza.
The operator also plans to launch services
between Oradea and Constanta, linking central
eastern Europe to the Black Sea, and expand its
services into Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Turkey,
thereby making its network one of the most
expansive in Europe and Eurasia.
The 48-hour service will initially offer two
departures each way per week, before increasing
to three by mid-2020. The service will at first use
containers with a maximum payload of 24 tonnes,
and swap bodies will be introduced if there is
enough demand.
Dangerous goods (RID) can also be transported
on the service.
Intermodal director Wim Blomme said: “We are
glad to announce a further expansion from our
jointly owned terminal in Oradea into central and
eastern Europe, by adding Poland to the existing
P&O Ferrymasters’
Oradea terminal
rail solutions we offer into northern and southern
Europe. This expansion is supporting the
substantial investments made in the Oradea
terminal to upgrade the facility, with the intention
to accommodate new destinations in the
foreseeable future.”
P&O Ferrymasters will partner with Italy’s
Transmec Group to deliver the new service.
Transmec is a global provider of transport and
logistics services with annual turnover of more than
€300 million. Headquartered in Campogalliano,
Modena, the company was established in 1850
and now operates from 28 locations across Europe,
including four depots in Romania.
Danilo Montecchi, CEO of Transmec Group, said:
“The new service forms part of our highly
successful collaboration with P&O Ferrymasters
over the past 30 years. We are already planning
our next steps, while also focusing on the ongoing
development of our existing intermodal services
between Oradea and Zeebrugge and Piacenza.”
P&O Ferrymasters serves 20 locations in 13
countries across Europe, operating integrated road,
rail and sea links via a fleet of more than 5,000
trailers and containers. The company is part of P&O
Ferries.
www.poferrymasters.com
B ULK D ISTRIBUTOR
3
Contargo
prepares
for extreme
summers
E
urope’s long, hot, dry summer might
seem a distant memory. Yet it prompted
container hinterland logistics network
Contargo to take the precautionary measure
of having four barges in its fleet modified so
that they have 10-15cm more water beneath
the keel in very low water conditions.
With changing climate patterns, future low
water in the River Rhine means logistics providers
need to prepare now in order to prevent being
caught out in the future.
“We use barges for about 75 percent of our
container transport,” said Cok Vinke, managing
director Contargo Waterway Logistics. “Periods of
very low water lead to big reductions in the
amounts that can be transported, and extra costs
due to the purchase of additional tonnage and
other transport capacities.”
For this reason, in 2018 Contargo began to have
modifications made to some of its contracted
vessels. At two boatyards in Antwerp and
Dordrecht, metal plates have been welded onto
four vessels in such a way that they now have to
sit only 130cm instead of 150cm deep in order for
their propellers to have enough water. Thanks to
this investment of approximately €10,000 per
vessel, the barges can now sail in the same water
levels with 10-15cm more water beneath the keel,
Contargo modified barges so that they can now sail in the same water
levels with 10-15cm more water beneath the keel
and can thus transport 200-300 tons more cargo
in low water.
This also means that in such conditions, water
no longer needs to be carried in the rear ballast
tanks. Thus even with very low water levels, the
barges can navigate the shallowest point at Kaub.
“Water levels in the Rhine have always been
subject to seasonal fluctuations. However, in the
interests of the transport industry and climate
protection, goods transport by inland waterway
needs to be strengthened. For this reason public
policy must take the initiative and act as soon as
possible to remove existing bottlenecks. In the
current German Federal Transport Infrastructure
Plan, draft optimisation of navigation channels
along the Middle Rhine is addressed as a priority
need. We hope this will be implemented as soon
as possible,” said Vinke.