Monday, October 26, 2015

Joint Venture Liner Agency Appointed for New Multi-Purpose Cargo Service

Ability to Handle Everything from Containers to Heavy Lift and RoRo Freight
Shipping News Feature
UK – EUROPE – MIDDLE EAST – INDIAN SUBCONTINENT – DKT Allseas Shipping, the alliance formed last year between UK based Allseas Global Logistics and Antwerp headquartered De Keyser Thornton (DKT), which operates from Allseas Tilbury office, has expanded its liner agency after the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) announced plans to launch a unique new service for shipping heavy roll-on/roll-off, project and containerised cargoes between the UK and the Gulf region.

From November a state of the art, self-geared fleet of RoCon vessels, built in 2013, will be deployed linking northwest Europe with various Middle East and Indian region destinations. RoCon ships are extremely flexible with the ability to carry a wide range of general cargo as well as RoRo and containerised freight. The Bahri vessels, based on a design by Danish naval architectural firm Knud E. Hansen A/S, were built by Korean shipbuilder Hyundai MIPO at a cost of $70 million each.

Each vessel, at 220 metres overall with beam width of 32.2 metres, a draft of 9.5 metres and 6.8 metre door height clearance, can accommodate up to 364 TEU. They each have a 250 tonne ramp and are equipped with two 120 tonne MacGregor deck cranes with tandem lift capacity of 240 tonnes. Mark Binge, Allseas Global Logistics group commercial manager commented:

“We are delighted to have been appointed as agents to serve Bahri on this important new service. This is a totally new service calling into the UK and will provide shippers with a valuable new option for connecting with the Gulf region. The new service will run approximately every 25 days and we expect high demand from the start for project cargo, new and used vehicles, machinery and other heavy items.

The ships can handle most cargoes with ease and their port rotation will be: Jeddah, Tilbury, Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Bilbao, Port Said, Dammam, Jeddah, with other ports served by inducement. Ports thus served will include Djibouti, Sohar, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bahrain, Umm Qasr, Port Sudan, Massawa, Jubail, Mumbai and Karachi/Port Qasim.

The appointment of the 50/50 joint venture, DKT Allseas Shipping, is also a bonus for the Port of Tilbury and its owner Forth Ports, with Chief Operating Officer Perry Glading, observing:

“This new service linking Tilbury with the Middle East Gulf opens up an important market for us. The Port of Tilbury’s unrivalled flexibility and expertise in handling the widest range of cargo types will be of huge benefit in providing a high-quality, efficient service to the Bahri vessels.”