Logent to operate Gothenburg Car Terminal

The Port of Gothenburg has signed a ten-year concession agreement with Swedish logistics company Logent, which will operate the Gothenburg Car Terminal AB.


The Port of Gothenburg is by far the largest port of export for cars in Sweden. Swedish export successes such as construction machinery, truck chassis and bus chassis are also shipped through the port. Direct routes to other parts of the world make Gothenburg an important gateway for the Swedish automotive industry.


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.


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


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, 2010. Because of its size, the deal does not require the approval of the Swedish Competition Authority.


The handling of cars was the sector that increased most at the Port of Gothenburg last year – up 48% 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.
(Source:http://www.container-mag.com)