Interview with
Mr. Fredrik Hermansson
Managing Director
I understand Fredrik that Lakeway Link is a newly established company, right? Who is behind this new venture and what is the business idea?
It’s the two companies Wallenius and Greencarrier who stand behind the establishment of Lakeway Link. It’s a joint ownership of 50/50.
The business idea is aimed at reducing heavy traffic by offering extended waterway transport. Lakeway Link will offer more sustainable traffic for Roll-on/Roll-off and High and Heavy between Lake Mälaren and Poland. The link is expected to reduce the climate footprint compared to traditional trailer transport between the Mälar region and the continent.
There will be weekly transports between the Polish city of Gdynia or Gdansk up to Södertälje and further into lake Mälaren to reach Västerås.
The focus will be on transporting only the trailers and not the truck.
There is a huge focus on sustainability and green nowadays. Some people may almost call it a ‘religious calling’. However in our context of business, in what ways do you feel that your new shipping solution contributes to the word “green”?
It is honorable when two companies like Wallenius and Greencarrier, both with a strong commitment to the environment, join forces to start a new shipping company. Lakeway Link will open the waterway between important logistics points in Europe that previously could not be reached efficiently by sea. This is positive from a sustainability point of view as it reduces emissions, while contributing to more efficient flows and decreased heavy traffic on the roads. The business plan also includes own designed tonnage/ships with the focus on the best possible technology, in order to minimize the environmental footprint.
We are currently doing emission calculations together with an external, independent consultant. So far, the indications are that we will be able to offer a more environmentally-attractive logistics solution, compared to today’s land-based trailer transports. It’s something we’ll come back to when we’ve completed the full environmental analysis, but it looks very promising.
What are the ports of call of Lakeway Link? What type of ships do you have in this service and what kind of transit times are we looking at?
We will traffic Gdynia or Gdansk in Poland. We have not made the final decision on which port we will serve. We will make the final decision during the summer.
In Sweden, we will first call Södertälje to unload and load before we continue through the locks in Södertälje into Lake Mälaren and then arrive at Västerås before returning down to Poland.
We will design and build our own tonnage which will be adapted to the locks into Mälaren for the best possible degree of utilization. We intend to operate with two ships, which means that we will offer 4 departures per week from each destination.
Transit time to deliver a trailer from Poland to Västerås via Södertälje is about 24 hours.
Do you accept bookings from anyone and are you also freight-forwarder friendly? I ask this because some shipowners are arrogantly rejecting freight forwarders and instead trying to do it all door-to-door.
We are open to everyone, absolutely including freight forwarders who we see as important customers. We are also open for a dialogue directly with the cargo owners.
Would you be able to take oversized and heavy cargoes as well? This, of course, depends on the type of vessels you have in mind.
We want to support project loads with high and heavy, which will mainly be based on Mafi trailers on board the ship.
Do you work with 3rd party agents in places where you are not yourself established or how do you intend to “market” this new service?
We will work with external partners, but Lakeway Link will take full responsibility for all commercial activities towards customers. Services that will be of external support will not be visible to our customers. Customers will be met by a small, dedicated organization for the best customer service.
Can you tell our readers about your own background in shipping and a little about Greencarrier that you are the managing director of?
Personally, I have been in the shipping industry for many years, and in particular with Greencarrier Group as Managing Director for Greencarrier Liner Agency, which has the agency for Evergreen Line and their operations in the Nordic and Baltic countries.
I have been involved in many different projects even though I have a background as a freight forwarder.
What do you like about shipping?
For me, shipping is part of my personal DNA. I grew up by the sea and have always had the pleasure of getting out on the sea. The potential of the free waterway is fantastic, as well as through all the recreational activities that can be done at sea. We must take care of the ocean as an asset. I want to say that we do that by offering and using green transport corridors at sea.
Personally, I appreciate a trip or a regatta with my sailboat (Dragon) together with some friends on the bay at home on the weekend.
How is it best for our readers to get in touch with you?
We are still in the start-up phase, establishing Lakeway Link Ltd. The website is under construction, and we expect that commercial staff will be on site during the month of September.
Until the new email addresses and website are up and running, I am extremely grateful if potential interested parties contact me at the following address:
fredrik.hermansson@greencarrier.com
