The Norwegian shipping company Nor Lines has started a direct weekly RoRo connection between German Port of Cuxhaven and Norway.
The first departure of the liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered 5,000 dwt short sea cargo vessel MS Kvitbjørn was on May 7. Two new RoRo vessels - vitbjørn and Kvitnos - will be used on this service.
”The favourable location of the CuxPort Terminal, Cuxhaven and its logistics expertise, particularly in the RoRo sector, played a major role in our choice of port,” said Sigurd Ur, Director for Sales & Marketing at Nor Lines.
In addition to performing the handling work, Cuxport will also operate as the clearance and booking agent. The port logistics specialist will also carry out the marketing work for Nor Lines in Germany.
Cuxport GmbH, which operates a multi-functional handling terminal at the deep-water port of Cuxhaven, is a joint venture between Rhenus and Hamburger Hafen und Logistik (HHLA).
The two new ships will reduce emissions by more than 35 percent. NOx is reduced by 90 percent and sulfur and particle emissions be eliminated. The ships sail at a speed of 12-15 knots. They also have a battery for hybrid operation and can also take advantage of shore power. The new ships can operate without assistance from the country, as they have an automated mooring system.
The newly established RoRo service will connect the Oslo fjord in the south of Norway to ports on the west coast like Bergen, Ålesund and Trondheim and even include Hammerfest located north of the Arctic Circle.
"With our multi-purpose approach, we're ideally equipped to cope with a wide variety of types of cargo and goods entrusted to us by our customers," added Michael de Reese, managing director of Cuxport.
The ship recently became the first vessel to operate between Asia and Europe solely on LNG as the ship’s bunker fuel. It sailed to Norway from Tsuji Heavy Industries shipyard in Jiangsu, China, via Singapore, and subsequently LNG bunkerings in Cochin, India and Cartagena, Spain. This was the longest voyage ever undertaken by a vessel running solely on LNG and was completed in Bergen on 29 March.
