HUAL, Dreyfus form European car/trailer short sea joint venture

HUAL, Dreyfus form European car/trailer short sea joint venture    Norwegian roll-on/roll-off operator HUAL and France’s Louis Dreyfus Armateurs have formed a European short sea joint venture to carry cars and trailers on ro/ro vessels.
   Named LD Cetam SAS, the joint venture between HUAL and Dreyfus “will focus on developing combined car and trailer trades,” HUAL said. The existing combined car and trailer trades operated by Cetam, a subsidiary of HUAL, will be transferred to the new joint venture.
   The joint venture follows another venture agreed last year by HUAL and Dreyfus to build and operate a special purpose ro/ro vessel that will be employed by aircraft manufacturer Airbus for 20 years to carry A380 aeroplane sections. The aircraft-oriented company, called FRET Cetam, will continue independently of the new LD Cetam venture.
   HUAL said it decided to split its short sea activities in Europe into two entities: Autoliners SAS for pure car shipping and LD Cetam SAS for combined car and trailer trades.