• • • • • Cold storage (transported at sub-zero temperatures) 40 and 45-foot reefer containers Deep-sea feedering Short-sea door-to-door transportation Reefer bulk and sideport solutions MOSS TRANSPORTFORUM

LEADERSHIP FOCUS ARE GRATHEN

Joining the company back in March of 2015, Grathen has witnessed a crucial period of expansion for Samskip in Norway over the course of the past four years.

In 2016 Samskip purchased Euro Line Container, a shipping company based out of Bergen on the west coast, a year later also acquiring Nor Lines, a fellow industry stalwart situated in Stavanger to the south of Bergen with presence across the entire country.

“These acquisitions complemented our pan-european network effectively, providing us with full coverage of the Norwegian coastline,” Grathen explains. “We’ve begun to experience the merits of these synergies more and more as we’ve continued to integrate these expanded capabilities with our already substantial cargo capacity on the coastal routes.

“The Hurtigruten Coastal Express, for example, is one of Norway’s famous scenic coastal routes that’s utilised by cruise ships. However, equally the Hurtigruten ships house additional cargo capacity and call at 34 ports along the Norwegian coast on a daily basis, something that’s quite unique in seaborne transportation.”

However, already in a short space of time this bolstered waterborne presence, coupled with Samskip Norway’s extensive on-land capabilities, the business’s offering is now somewhat unrivalled within the national market.

Transportforum AS offers solutions that meet its customers’ needs and attach great importance to personal service, making the company an efficient, nationwide player in the logistics sector.

Every year, the company spends considerable resources on environmental improvement measures, and has routines for developing an active and conscious attitude to environmental protection.

The company has also developed a web solution for ordering services and tracking shipments. With Track & Trace you can get in-depth information about individual broadcasts, and via EDI you can follow the shipment all the way, from when the order is registered until the goods are signed out at the customer.

+47 69 24 11 30 post@mtf.no

“Our multimodal approach can be quite complex, for sure, but we have 200 employees all operating on the same platform and some long- established partnerships that enable this extensive coastal coverage,” adds Grathen.

Aspirational ambition

Natural yet substantial expansions to the company’s existing regional presence, Samskip and the Norway MD remain concentrated on maximising integrational synergies.

Asked about the firm’s current investment plans, the MD replied: “Currently we’re digesting our recent acquisitions, it’s been a hectic but truly transformational couple of years.

“Nor Lines was an active player in the seafood logistics market, for example. It’s presence in this market in the north fitted well with our own strategic goals of bolstering our cold chain outlook and we’ve still got more to offer in this space.”

A core focus of the company, Samskip in Norway is a key proponent of the Group’s ambitions in this cold chain niche, keeping ahead of market trends and in touch with legislative requirements in order to maintain reliable yet flexible transportation options for its clientele.

Moreover, looking ahead, another of the company’s outspoken ambitions is to simultaneously grow further into the container transport segment in Norway within the next two to three years, incorporating all regions.

“The ambition is to take the multimodal container traffic that is currently somewhat limited to the southern part of Norway to the upper reaches of the country, allowing the entirety of northern Norway to become part of our pan-european logistics ecosystem,” explains Grathen.

“We make an effort to offer services to scarcely populated places. The whole idea of the network is that we can reach deep into every market, irrespective of its size.

“When you’re dealing in the UK you’re dealing with cities with millions of people, but when you’re in northern Norway you’re often dealing with remote villages of maybe a few hundred people, however still rich in industries like seafood or manufacturing.”