On Monday, the 27th of June, we had the chance to visit Drammen Havn (Port of Drammen) thanks to Ivar Vannebo.
For decades this port has been Norway’s largest port for car imports, but the port is also used to ship containers, offshore installations, steel, wet and dry bulk as well as general cargo. The port of Drammen is growing every year measured in expanding areas, number of cars and revenues. In the Covid lockdown year 2021, they even hit a new record, by having more than 118 500 cars and vehicles imported and stored in the port of Drammen.
If you’re curious about the activities in the port of Drammen or in some other ports, you can register a free user account in ShipAtlas here, and find vessels waiting at anchorage, just arrived, moored and just departed in more than 5000 ports.
They intend to invest more than 750 billion NOK in the years to come, and you can read more about their strategy here.
One of the latest projects at the port, is an extension of the port named Kattegat kai 2 (Kattegat quay 2). The new quay will give the port an addition of 200 metres, and it’ll get an onshore power-plant established so ships can lie emission-free at the quay. This is in line with the ports strategy to be an environmentally friendly and future-oriented port. When construction is complete the port will have a capacity greater than 1 km in length, an increase welcomed by the transport sector.
The port is also a major employer and contract owner for the Drammen region, and the extension is a part of their plan for the years 2021 – 2040. The goals in this plan are aiming to ensure that the Port of Drammen is a technology driven, sustainable port with a long-term development of infrastructure.
The port of Drammen is also an important piece of infrastructure for the transport of commodities, and containers are shipped weekly on routes between several European ports. Goods from trucks, railway and ships are reloaded quickly and cost-effectively, to secure environmentally friendly transport of goods in South-East Norway.
While we visited the port of Drammen, the car carrier Auto Energy arrived, and started to discharge a shipment of cars for the Norwegian market before it continued to Spain. With a capacity of 4.000 cars spread across 10 car decks there is a lot of planning involved to ensure a smooth operation. She is built in 2016, at the NACKS Shipyard in Nantong, China.
UECC is focusing om building a sustainable fleet of pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs) with multi-fuel LNG battery hybrid vessels. They have entered into an extensive newbuilding program to support their strategy. You can read more about UECC on their web site: https://www.uecc.com/
If you want to find where Auto Energy sailed after she left Drammen, you can search and find her or other car carriers in ShipAtlas:
A special thanks to Ivar Vannebo who accepted our request to visit and Morten Hansen who welcomed us and shared his knowledge with us.
