Many companies expressed an interest in running the Gothenburg Car Terminal and around ten external operators were involved in the process. The final choice was Logent – a Swedish logistics company with 1,000 employees which operates ports, combiterminals and storage facilities throughout Sweden and Norway. Logent also handles stevedoring at the Port of Stockholm as well as an industrial college in Gothenburg specialising in logistics. “Logent is an innovative, rapidly growing, knowledge-intensive company that shares our values and visions. Choosing a logistics company is a clear indication of the role played by a modern port. We are part of the logistics chain and through Logent we will gain access to many other parts of that chain, presenting us with significant competitive advantages,” continues Magnus Kårestedt, chief executive of the Port of Gothenburg. “Gothenburg’s geographical location is unbeatable when it comes to serving the whole of Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. We are seeking to reinforce the Car Terminal at the Port of Gothenburg even further in close collaboration with the automotive industry,” states Lars-Göran Ahlberger, President of Logent AB. The background to the move is the division of the Port into a municipal port authority and three separate terminal companies. The quays and infrastructure will remain under municipal ownership and the agreement only applies to operations at the Car Terminal. In October, the Port signed an agreement with DFDS Seaways and C.Ports covering the operation of the Ro-Ro Terminal and next in line in the transfer process is the Container Terminal.
Transfer April 4
Once the concession agreement comes into force, Logent will take over all customer contracts and the 35 employees. The official transfer date is April 4. Because of its size, the deal does not require the approval of the Swedish Competition Authority.
Cars gathering momentum
The handling of cars was the sector that increased most at the Port of Gothenburg last year – up 48 per cent on 2009. In total, 233,000 cars were imported and exported and the upward trend is continuing although there is still some way to go to reach pre-recession figures of 300,000-plus cars passing through the port each year. Shipping of cars and other vehicles to and from other parts of the world will be handled by the Gothenburg Car Terminal, which is now in the process of being transferred. Around one-third of the total car volume at the port last year passed through the Gothenburg Car Terminal as well as 12,200 construction machines, chassis, steel units and other heavy goods. In 2010, the Terminal had a turnover of SEK 71 million.