Ocean Network Express and APM Terminals Gothenburg’s robust climate ambitions aligned

APM Terminals Gothenburg spoke with Mattias Järlestig, the sales manager responsible for Sweden and Norway at Ocean Network Express (ONE). Mattias has been involved since the start, with merging the container divisions of three large Japanese shipping companies to form ONE in 2018.

Please tell us a bit about your current projects

As a relatively new company, we took the opportunity to prioritise items that aren't normally high on the agenda in this industry. Our climate efforts are one such area. In terms of sea transport, we recently decided to use low-sulphur shipping fuel. Our parent company provides us with ship building innovations that reduce our impact on the climate.

This year, we will be launching a climate initiative focused on land transport. The project will extensively deal with moving goods away from roads into rail and shipping.

What does your conscious investment in rail mean for your customers?

In the last quarter of 2020, we began to utilise the rail shuttle between Gothenburg and Falköping. An export customer in Vara, who previously shipped their goods by lorry, was responsible for the initiative. Containers could rotate at a new empty depot in Falköping, enabling a slightly more complex form of triangulation, which offers significant environmental benefits without costing more. We are now looking at a similar solution for the town of Borås.

How is the demand for climate efficient transport shaping up?

There is a high demand for climate efficient transport, but timing and pricing are still extremely important. A lot of our largest customers prioritise the environment and are showing great interest in being able to measure and compare the carbon footprint of different transport alternatives.

What will make more holistic, environmentally friendly solutions possible?

We utilize shipping and rail as much as possible. We basically utilize rail to Gothenburg by default and we are constantly striving to enable triangulation and connect as many partners as possible to create efficient, climate-smart, supply chain flows.

It is important to agree on a way of comparing and reporting CO2 emissions, that is, collecting information from all partners in the logistics chain and making it available. The more Swedish companies require their emissions to be reported, the more pressure there is on us to adopt a standardised approach.

How will climate issues affect the flow of goods in the future?

The climate will be even more important than it is today. Larger ships and better efficiency are natural developments and will cause less of an impact on the environment. But we need to do more to take the next step, for instance, utilizing fuels such as natural gas.

Lastly, why do you send such large volumes through Gothenburg?

The great capacity of APM Terminal Gothenburg is the foremost reason. We would not have been able to manage such volumes in any other Swedish port. We also view developments in capacity and investments made by APM Terminals positively, not to mention their great focus on the customer, making customer wishes a priority.

Additionally, APM Terminals Gothenburg’s container handling is entirely fossil-free which not only supports our own climate targets nicely but also gives us something we can use when communicating with customers who want to reduce their carbon footprint.