Color Line Expands Oslo-Kiel Freight Route

The Norwegian shipping company Color Line said that its newly purchased ro-ro ship M/S Color Carrier sailed for the first time from Hjortneskaia in Oslo to Kiel in Germany.

Color Line can transport approx. 80,000 trailers annually on this stretch. This corresponds to a continuous string of trailers from Oslo to Tromsø in the far north of Norway.

"This initiative is an important contribution to strengthening the environmentally friendly sea route that represents a collective solution for the transport of goods," said CEO Trond Kleivdal. With the investment in Color Carrier, Color Line intensifies its focus on ro-ro transport as a new area of activity.

"The investment is in line with the company's ambitions for further development of sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions for Norwegian shipping," says CEO Trond Kleivdal, adding that shifting more goods from road to sea is an important step in reducing emissions from freight transport.

Color Carrier was built at Fosen Yard in 1998, and the ship was refitted just over two years ago with the latest generation cleaning system for exhaust (scrubbers). The ship will also be rebuilt to be able to use existing facilities for shore power at the Color Line terminal in Oslo, and similar facilities in Kiel when they are completed.

A cooperation agreement with the German Kombiverkehr enables freight to be moved environmentally friendly and efficiently from the port of Kiel by rail to and from major cities in Europe.

Color Line's investment in freight transport is in line with the type of development that the Norwegian authorities and the EU seek to stimulate, and the ship qualifies for the state support scheme to ensure that more goods are transported by sea. With the new ship, Color Line increases its capacity to a total of 80 departures a month on this line linking Norway to the Continent.

"With Color Carrier, we can also carry new cargo products such as tank containers, reefer products and the transportation of hazardous materials. This gives us a more diversified product platform and furthermore enhance our business model,” says executive vice president Terje Røli in Color Line Cargo.

The new ro-ro ship will have a capacity of 36,000 trailers annually and will operate between Oslo and Kiel six times a week, accommodating 120 trailers per departure.

Color Line is currently the only shipping company in international passenger and freight traffic to and from Norway with Norwegian headquarters and ships in the Norwegian Ship Register.