According to the current timetable, the UK is due to leave the EU on 31 October. But what does withdrawal mean for those who ship freight between Sweden and the UK via the Port of Gothenburg? And will it affect those handling non-UK bound freight at the port? Although the road leading to this point has been long and at times rocky, the date of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU is approaching relentlessly. A ‘soft’ or ‘hard’ Brexit does not matter – the UK will be classed as a ‘third country’ in relation to EU countries such as Sweden, as it will be outside the single market. In its dealings with the UK, the EU will accordingly apply third-country regulations in areas such as tariffs, customs controls, and verification of compliance with EU rules governing the nature and quality of goods. “The exporter must ensure its goods are ready for clearance through customs before they reach the Port of Gothenburg and our terminals. That is the message we are sending out to the market. If an exporter does not have everything in place, they won’t get in to the port. The same principle applies to imports from the UK – goods that are not ready for clearance before they are shipped to Sweden risk getting stuck at our terminals,” said Elvir Dzanic, Gothenburg Port Authority Chief Executive. The fact that Brexit will eventually materialise will come as no surprise to anyone, least so among those who transport goods to and from the United Kingdom. But Dzanic appreciates that it could still be difficult for some companies to take the right measures in time. “My view is that the major players are well prepared. It is generally the smaller enterprises that do not have the administrative capacity of the large freight owners and freight forwarders. Having said that, I still stand by what I said earlier. Do not turn up at the Port of Gothenburg without having all your customs documents in order.” And it is not just companies dealing with the UK who are worried about Brexit. Other companies that use the port are wondering how potential queues at the gates will affect those using the port other than for trade with the UK. “We don’t believe there will be queues at the terminal gates. If there are problems, they will occur earlier in the system – at the main Port Entry gate for example – where we need to be prepared. As a contingency, we have identified a number of areas in the vicinity of the port where trucks may need to be temporarily parked pending clearance,” said Dzanic. Even if Dzanic feels uncertain about how Brexit will play out in the end, he sees no reason for anyone to panic. “I don’t think this will benefit anyone. Obviously nobody knows exactly how things will be until it happens, but from experience I know that the logistics industry is the master of the ‘quick fix’ when faced with a new situation,” he said. “When new customs rules came into effect ten years ago, there was a great deal of concern, but the industry adapted rapidly then and I’m sure it will be the same now.”

Ports of Stockholm has been nominated as a finalist for the 2019 C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Award. The prize is awarded in seven categories to provide global recognition for cities demonstrating climate action leadership. Ports of Stockholm has reached the final for the power installations at the Värtahamnen port as one of three nominees in the Air quality category. “It is really great that we have reached the final, as our power installations have been a focus area this year. Several of the ferries at the Värtahamnen port have connected to shore power this year, which has contributed to a substantial reduction in emissions,” says Thomas Andersson, Ports of Stockholm Managing Director. Ports of Stockholm has invested in shore power connection capabilities at the Värtahamnen port and has successfully collaborated with shipping companies, in this case Tallink Silja, and with the Baltic Sea ports of Helsinki and Tallinn. By connecting to shore power the ferries can shut down their auxiliary engines, which significantly reduces the emission of greenhouse gases and air pollutants. The C40 Cities – Climate Leadership Group brings together the biggest cities in the world in efforts to mitigate climate change. The 195 applications submitted demonstrated a wide range of innovative policies and programs to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and improve the resilience of cities to climate change. The applications were then examined in a review and evaluation process by Nordic Sustainability and a team of C40 experts to select 26 finalists. The final will take place in Copenhagen on 10 October at the C40 Mayors Summit. Stockholm has been a C40 member since 2007 and is known as an “innovation city”. This means that, despite its relatively small size, it has been part of the collaboration due to the good climate work carried out by the City of Stockholm. Stockholm is also a board member of the C40.

“We are proud to commemorate the arrival of the first commercial vessel in the Port of Ngqura. The MSC Catania berthed at our shores at 10h50 on Sunday, 4 October 2009, off-loading 275 containers at an average speed of 19 containers per ship working hour. The vessel stayed for 21 hours before leaving the port at 07h40 on 5 October 2009,” said Tandi Lebakeng, Port Manger of the Port of Ngqura. The port’s container throughput has grown from 70,209 TEUs in the 2009/10 financial year to 744,660 TEUs in the 2018/19 financial year. It is the newest and deepest container port on the South African coastline – a trans-shipment hub offering an integrated port service for containers in transit to global markets and within the Sub-Saharan Africa region. Today it is one of the fastest growing ports on the African continent.