trailer world issue One 2010

24 Issue One 2010 In 2007, the American holding company Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) pur- chased U.N. Ro-Ro for 910 million Euro. UND only holds one percent. Since the takeover, KKR has continued to invest, purchasing two ships in 2008 and another one in 2009. The next delivery is to be made in July 2010, bringing the fleet to eleven ships. On the 103,000 m² premises of the U.N. Ro-Ro terminal in Pendik, trailers and trucks from all renowned Turkish forwarders wait in line, including leading names such as Ekol, Ran and Mars Logistics. Sittnak International Transport Inc. sends around 50 trucks with trailers and three to five trailers every week, just to Triest and back. “Safety is the main rea- son why we use the Ro-Ro connection”, says M. Melih Kinaci, Vice President of Sittnak. The company supplies goods above all to Ita- ly, Spain, France and Germany. “We don‘t go via Bulgaria and Romania at all, as the bor- der guards want a bribe”, says Kinaci. Further- more, the fuel available here is often poor. Land transport is the only competition for U.N. Ro-Ro Managing Director Bayül- gen. His employees therefore check meticu- lously to see what land transport costs. The Ro-Ro operator‘s prices are then aligned ac- cordingly to keep below forwarders that only offer land transport. Last year, U.N. Ro-Ro shipped around 150,000 units in both directions from all three ports. At the moment, the facilities are work- ing at 80 to 85 percent capacity for export and about 100 percent for import. “2008 was a good year, apart from the last few months”, says Bayülgen. He hopes that the whole mar- ket will pick up in 2010. U.N. Ro-Ro plans to run more frequent services between Ambarli and Triest, and also between Mersin and Tri- est: after all, Bayülgen expects more transit traffic in future. (sl) Trieste Ambarli Mersin Istanbul Pendik Izmir Info More information about the named companies can be found online at www.unroro.com.tr (U.N. Ro-Ro), www.unkar. com (Ünkar International Transport and Customs Warehouse) and www.fsg-shpi.de (Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft). Specialist for Ro-Ro ships n FSG (Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesell schaft) is a key partner for U.N. Ro-Ro and has built altogether 14 ships for its Turkish customer since 1999. FSG was founded in 1872. Since then it has built more than 700 ships, including sailing ships and tankers. The orders from U.N. Ro-Ro have seen the Flensburg company develop into a special shipbuilding firm. “A team of experts was out and about all over the world to find the right shipyard”, says Uwe Otto, Sales and Marketing Director at FSG. “They found us and have stayed with us, because our ships use around 10 tons less fuel a day than competing vessels with the same load volume”. In time, the company has adapted the Ro-Ro ships to the increasing demand. Initially they were rated for 2,700 track meters but this has changed to 3,715 metres today, with the ships offering capacity for 240 trucks and trailers. The floating highway as a direct connection between Turkey and Italy International

trailer world issue One 2010

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