Wallenius SOL has chartered the compact container ship ‘Maike D’ (660 teu) to strengthen its conro service between Port of Antwerp-Bruges and Finland. Last week, the vessel was fully loaded at Euroports and MPET for Kokkola and Oulu.
In 2018, Swedish shipping companies Wallenius and Swedish Orient Line (SOL) established a joint venture to connect Sweden and Finland with Western Europe. Step by step, it built a weekly rotation past Tilbury, Zeebrugge and Antwerp, via German Travemünde (Lübeck) to Swedish and Finnish ports in the Gulf of Bothnia (the northern part of the Baltic Sea). Capacity was gradually ramped up until the delivery of sister ships ‘Baltic Enabler’ and ‘Botnia Enabler’ in 2022 . These are the largest ice-class shortsea ro-ro vessels in the world, each accounting for 6,442 liner metres and 960 teu.
Now Wallenius SOL reports another expansion. “We are leasing the container ship ‘Maike D’, with a capacity of 660 teu,” says chief commercial officer Jonas Wåhlin. “It was fully loaded with containers for Kokkola and Oulu in Finland on Thursday 16 May at Euroports and MPET in Antwerp.”
Market demand
The ‘Maike D’ will not sail the full rotation between Finland and Western Europe but will be limited to direct service between Antwerp, Kokkola and Finland. “This is a short-term charter in response to a demand for additional capacity. By placing a container ship alongside our conros ‘Baltic Enabler’ and ‘Botnia Enabler’, we are creating additional space for both containers and ro-ro. If the market continues to develop positively, we will look forward to permanently increasing our capacity,” Wåhlin says.
The ‘Maike D’ was built in 2000 at the German shipyard J.J. Sietas and sails under the Liberian flag for Cuxhaven-based shipping company Drevin. According to the shipowner, the vessel is popular for charters because of its MAK 9M43 engine that generates a top speed of 16 knots. The vessel is 133 metres long and 18.7 metres wide.
Latvia
This is already the second expansion for Wallenius SOL’s rotation in 2024. In March, an additional branch to Latvia came in cooperation with the also Swedish Stena Line. In Travemünde, cargo is transshipped on Stena Lina‘s service to and from the Latvian port of Liepaja. This cooperation is marketed as a financially interesting alternative to road transport since German road tolls were increased.
