Arkon, Best Launch Heavy Lift Shuttle

German shipbroker company Arkon Shipping announced launching of a new feeder service for heavy lift, project and break bulk cargo.

The service has been developed by Arkon and the Polish freight forwarders BestLogistics, based in Szczecin.

The Baltic Cargo Shuttle (BCS) consists of a heavy lifter MV “LYRA J” which can call all Baltic ports in maximum two days.

As explained by Arkon, with its two cranes with a combined carrying capacity of 400 tons this vessel is ideal, especially for ports which are not fitted with heavy lift cranes.

“The trigger of the idea to bundle cargoes was the extra expenses which will occur due to the new MARPOL regulations as from the 1st January 2015 for the North Sea and Baltic”, says Torsten Westphal, Managing Director of ArkonShipping.

With the Baltic Cargo Shuttle there is a new option now to compensate these additional expenses, according to Arkon.

The heavy lift shuttle can be used multi-purposely within the short sea trading area North Sea and Baltic.

It offers a feeder service for the deep-sea traffic of the big shipping companies.

Andreas Haefner, Managing Director of Best Logistics, said: “As the vessel is on stand-by in its trading area, the customer can benefit of bookings on short notice and a quick turnover. The routes will then be coordinated individually.”

The company directors Haefner and Westphal await an increasing demand in this segment.

“Taking the trend into consideration that pieces, especially in the construction segment, are getting bigger and heavier and cannot be containerized any more, this service taps the pulse of the age”, the partners are convinced.

After a lengthy test phase which was accompanied by a market study, the heavy lifter is now employed in the regular service, Arkon said.

“In the first quarter we were able to fix ten voyages. Thereby we succeeded to bundle up to four different freights on one shuttle turn,” Westphal and Haefner commented.

The heavy lift shuttle calls all ports of the SECA-area in the North Sea and Baltic. The shipping routes include especially the ports of the Antwerp-Hamburg-range, the British Isles, Scandinavia and the Baltic up to the most easterly point at St. Petersburg.

The transit time within the Baltic is maximum two days, between North Sea and Baltic at the utmost four days.