Malmö – close to European growth

The maritime community in Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city, has been hit by two devastating blows; the closure of the shipyard and the opening of the fixed-link to Denmark. But there are potential for a revival thanks to the city’s location in the middle of the Öresund region and on the brink of the Baltic Sea, today the region with the fastest growing economy within the EU.

Apart from ferry operations, Malmö has never had a shipowning community of significance. Among a handful of coaster operators, Clipper Line was an exemption. The company operated a number of cargo vessels, trading in the transoceanic arena and also the most famous Malmö ship, the beautiful cruise vessel “Stella Polaris”. Clipper Line was however winded up in 1973.

The once so lively ferry traffic between Malmö and Copenhagen is also just a memory today. In 2000 the fixed link between Sweden and Denmark was inaugurated, leaving no room in the market for the ferries.

World famous Kockum
The major part of the maritime community in Malmö was connected to the famous Kockums shipyard. Shipbuilding started in the 1870s and the company became one of the leading developers of modern shipping. In the 1950s Kockums was the largest shipbuilder in the world, measured in delivered tonnage for a consecutive number of years. The company was early into electric welding and at the forefront of the development of new designs and new ship-types.

But the saga ended in 1987, when the last civilian vessel, the 23,000 DWT Nord Skagerakk, was delivered. All in all, around 470 vessels of 18.7 million tons had been delivered to the civilian World merchant fleet.

But there are remnants left, and they are definitely at the forefront in their respective niches. The today HDW-owned Kockum is a world-leader in naval crafts such as submarines and stealth-designed surface vessels.

Kockum Sonics is today a global developer and manufacturer in acoustics, electronics, mecatronics and software development with subsidiaries in China, Great Britain, USA, Russia and Switzerland.

British-owned Tribon Solutions is a market leader in software solutions for shipyards all over the world. Other examples of companies in the Malmö maritime cluster with focus on ship technology are Chris-Marine, a globally-working specialist in design, development and manufacture of maintenance machines for diesel engines, and Ecoship – an industrial network developing a new type of modern and environmentally friendly ship design.

Apart from the heritage from the shipbuilding era, the Malmö shipping community is dominated by port activities.

No longer a part of the Malmö skyline. The large Kockum crane has been sold to South Korea.

Unique port development
The opening of the Öresund bridge effectively stopped the ferry traffic across the sound, but it also triggered a world unique development of the port. By the turn of the century, it joined forces with neighbouring Copenhagen and for the first time ever, two ports in two different countries joined all their operations into one company and one organisation. This has had a clearly positive effect on the port activities in Malmö, and the potential for growth is inspiring.

– We can see that the logistical focus is moving south in Sweden, says Lars Karlsson, MD of the Copenhagen Malmö Port, CMP.

One example is Toyota, having established its Toyota Nordic Hub in Malmö for distribution to all dealers in Scandinavia, Finland, Russia and the Baltic states. The hub has a yearly capacity of about 80,000 cars.

The recycling company Stena Metall has also chosen Malmö as a logistical centre. Scandinavian Tank Storage handles about three million tons of oil in transit. The Spanish steel giant Acerinox opened a new storage and service centre in Malmö in 2002. From this, the company provides the markets in Scandinavia, the Baltic States, Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Hungary with stainless steel.

Fifth largest port
Malmö’s strength is the strategic location, the port’s ability to accept large, deep draft ships and an excellent network of ferry and feeder operators. About 30 shipping lines calls Malmö on a regular basis, with Unifeeder being one of the major ones. The Malmö part of CMP handled 7.22 million tons of cargo last year, up from 6.96 million tons in 2002 and positioning it as Sweden’s fifth largest cargo port.

And there are plans for a major expansion. A new railway city tunnel is to be built in Malmö by 2008. This will result in vast amounts of excavated material, which will be used to fill out an area of five million square metres in the port.

	The “Stella Polaris”, once the most famous vessel in the Malmö fleet, today a floating hotel in Japan.

Nordö Link is one of the major players in Malmö. The company was established in 1982 and was bought by Finnlines 20 years later. With four ro-pax vessels, the company offers four daily departures in each direction on the Malmö–Travemünde run. During the first seven months this year, the company has carried almost 130,000 cargo units, corresponding to a market share of around 50 per cent on the routes between Sweden and Travemünde. The major competitors are TT-Line with four ferries and Scandlines with two ferries on the Trelleborg– Travemünde route.

Nordö Link is mainly focusing on freight and only passengers with vehicles are accepted. During the summer months, freight traffic is however reduced by up to 40 per cent and caravans and tourists fill the cargo decks. Passenger capacity will be increased next year when Finnarrow is replaced by Finnclipper, the latter having almost 200 cabins or almost double up compared to Finnarrow. The extra cabins are also needed to meet the requirements of the professional drivers.
– With the new capacity we can offer single cabins to all drivers, also when the vessel is fully booked, says Rüdiger Meyer, MD of Nordö Link.

Future in logistics
During 2005 and 2006, Nordö Link’s mother company will take delivery of three new ro-paxes. They will replace existing vessels in the Finnline fleet.
– Two of the replaced vessels could be used to replace our oldest vessels, the Lübeck Link and the Malmö Link, says Rüdiger Meyer.

The question is what will happen with these vessels. Although close to 25 years old, these ro-ro/railway ferries are in very good condition. A sale to a potential competitor isn’t likely, but two older, written-down ferries are perfect to use for the launch of a new service. People in the industry are speculating in a new ferry service, linking Malmö and Swinoujscie in Poland. Since Poland has become an EU member, the problems and delays at the border crossings between Germany and Poland are history, and a quick glance at the map shows that Swinoujscie is a logical destination for transports to and from the Berlin area.

Malmö obviously has a future as a logistical hub, and maybe there is a future also for passenger traffic across the Sound. This summer, four years after the opening of the bridge, Rederi AB Örestad has established a new passenger vessel service between Malmö and København.

With a classic 68-metre passenger vessel, the Turasund, the company hopes that people will return to the traditional way to cross the Sound; at the dinner table, while enjoying good food, pleasant company and a nice sea view.

//Rolf P Nilsson