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The Hong Kong-based shipping line Orient Overseas Container Line(OOCL) is intensifying its focus on the Port of Gothenburg. In April, a new route will be opened for exports to Asia, North America and Australia, a move which looks set to have a positive effect on bunker sales at the port.

As recently as March, the publicly listed Hong Kong shipping line OOCL, one of the largest shipping lines in the world, became a customer at the Port of Gothenburg. A loop was started that is mainly used to transport import goods from Asia, Australia and North America to Russia via the Port of Gothenburg.

This initiative has proved so successful that the company has now chosen to start another route to the Port of Gothenburg. This time the vessels are loaded with export goods from Russia, Poland and Sweden, destined for Asia, Australia and North America. Transshipment takes place in Hamburg.

The loop will be St. Petersburg/Gdansk/ Gothenburg/Hamburg/Gdansk/St. Petersburg. The vessels will visit the Port of Gothenburg each week, which means that OOCL will now put into Gothenburg twice weekly.

"Some 90 per cent of Sweden's foreign trade is by sea and it is vital that Swedish companies have a wide range of rapid, efficient transport solutions to key markets. It is therefore extremely positive that our new customer, OOCL, is continuing to focus on the Port of Gothenburg," said Magnus Kårestedt, chief executive at the Port of Gothenburg.

The vessels used in the new loop will be OOCL St Petersburg and OOCL Finland, which have a capacity of 1,008 TEUs each, as well as OOCL Nevskiy, which can carry 868 TEUs.