Posted on March 4, 2021
Svitzer has described the rationale behind recent expansion in Germany, highlighting how its global presence and scale of operation provide flexibility to adapt to changes in demand.
Svitzer Europe announced expansion within its German and Scandinavian operations recently including arrival of the newbuild 62tbp tug Svitzer Vestri and talking exclusively to MJ, Mattias Hellström, chief commercial officer, Svitzer Europe has described the importance of the region and changing requirements including in Sweden, Denmark and Germany.
Mr Hellström describes Emden and Bremerhaven as ‘key North Sea hubs powering German trade’ Emden being Europe’s biggest roro port and a significant export terminal for Germany’s automotive sector. He sees significant potential at Emden, stating: “We conducted rigorous analysis of the ships and customers calling at the port which allowed us to create a strong business case to start operations in the hub in January 2021. Meanwhile in Bremerhaven we have been offering towage services to customers since 2013 and initiated a line-handling business in July 2020.”
The expansion in terms of entry into a new port and widening of the services Svitzer offers aligns with its customer-focused commercial growth strategy, Mr Hellström stating: “This strategy guarantees that if there are new sustainable ways to support our customer base and provide flexible and safe operations, we will pursue them. Our global and strong regional presence allows us to work with customers across the full span of their operations, and both Emden and Bremerhaven are an important element of executing that vision. What is also key for Svitzer is that we maintain the same high standards of safety and operational excellence that span all of our operations globally.”
Considering towing industry trends in general a theme when reporting tug deliveries in this column is the demand to service ever-larger ships alongside increases in trade and the never-ending drive for efficiency of operations in what is a highly competitive market. Customers are also attracted to a single provider of towage services where possible so with around 440 vessels operating in over 30 countries Svitzer (part of Maersk) is well placed, back to Mr Hellström again.
“Germany’s trends and challenges are a small example of the same changes that we are seeing across the industry. Ports in the region are having to serve larger vessels and more complex and diverse call outs. They also have to continue to underpin their local supply chains and particularly in the North Sea, service entirely new or growing sectors such as offshore wind. All these trends, which we expect will only accelerate in the coming years are heaping pressure on towage operators and are happening at a time of unprecedented strain, particularly with the continuous challenge that Covid-19 presents for our operations.”
Mr Hellström describes the towage industry’s role as ‘the custodians of the first and last mile of global seaborne trade’ while coping with the wider transformations taking place within the industry and underpinning safe operations within the port environment. Regarding this he states: “At Svitzer we look to respond to these changes by constantly looking at our available resources and aiming to be customer-focused, dynamic and responsive. Our decision to deploy modern manoeuvrable tugs such as our new 62tbp ASD tug, Svitzer Vestri in our Emden operation typifies this approach. Our presence and scale as a global towage operator is also a significant differentiator. We can flexibly deploy our fleet to meet changing demand patterns and respond to customer needs even if it requires us to call vessels from further afield. We leverage our global scale to provide attractive and integrated offerings to our customers; if they need us, we can be there.”
Mr Hellström reports that the impact of Covid-19 has caused considerable upheaval in port traffic which has not been uniform in every hub, container ports not impacted as severely as others. In the medium term, he sees the pandemic possibly become a catalyst, accelerating the rate of change for towage and summing up he states: “We are committed to embracing innovation and exploring new technologies that can make our operations safer and more efficient and we recognise that the human element behind towage is our core business differentiator. This is why we always ensure our highly skilled crew are equipped with the right tools and processes to keep themselves and our customers’ assets and cargo safe.”
By Peter Barker
