Transfennica to park a North Europe ro/ro service

Transfennica, a subsidiary of the Dutch Spliethoff Group, will end its ‘Motorways of the Sea’ roll-on/roll-off service.    Transfennica, a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Spliethoff Group, will end its “Motorways of the Sea” roll-on/roll-off service between Bilbao, Spain; Portsmouth, United Kingdom; and Zeebrugge, Belgium by the end of the month.
   The company started the route in September 2007 and realized increasing volumes. However, it noted EU marine sulphur emissions reduction legislation, which takes effect Jan. 1, will result in increasing fuel costs and the deterioration of financial return from the service. 
   “It is expected that up to 50 percent of the trailer volumes will return to the road. The Board of Directors of Spliethoff Group, therefore, had to decide there is no profitable future for a ro/ro service on this route,” the company said in a statement.
   Transfennica said the decision has no impact on its other ro/ro and logistics services in Spain and Portugal. 
   The company operates a fleet of 15 multipurpose ro/ro vessels for its short-sea transportation services across Europe.