Stena Glovis, owned in equal parts by Stena and the Korean mega-company Hyundai Glovis, is a true success story. 

“This platform for industrial cargo in scheduled service with new, large, heavy industrial customers is something quite unique and something we haven’t had at Stena before,” Says Hans Nilsson, CEO for Stena Glovis. “We are well on our way to becoming the market leader in Europe and, if you talk individual companies, we are probably already the biggest.”

Hyundai Motors is the world’s third-largest automaker, with extensive exports to Europe. In the group’s own transport and logistics company Hyundai Glovis, there are approximately 100 vehicle transport vessels for intercontinental transport of RoRo cargo and automobiles. When the company previously shipped wheeled cargo from Asia to Europe, there had been surplus capacity on the way back. This tonnage now forms the basis of the platform being built by Stena Glovis, with transoceanic cargo from Europe to Asia, Africa and North America that Stena Glovis.

“We saw a dip in April because of corona, but now the numbers are even better than before, much because of positioning ourselves so strongly with Asia and China,” says Hans Nilsson. “That is where demand is at its very strongest and we currently have ten departures a month to China. No one else is anywhere near the number of ships we can provide, and that makes us an attractive supplier.”

The ships can take up to 8,000 cars but are usually loaded with a combination of cars and other wheeled cargo. Loading in Europe is mainly in Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Southampton and Hamburg. The route can then go via the Suez Canal and the Middle East, sometimes with an additional detour up into the Arabian Gulf and on to South Korea via India, Singapore and China. A voyage takes about 30-45 days one way, depending on the number of stops. 

“In addition to this, we have service with two ships from Europe to South Africa via West Africa, as well as three ships to the United States, calling at ports on both the east and west coasts and Mexico,” Hans Nilsson says.

Next year will be a big tendering year, with ample opportunity to win new business, when both BMW and Mercedes open up for procurement on all their routes.

“The goal is to be able to dramatically grow in the deep-sea sector,” Hans Nilsson explains. “Last year we took the Volkswagen contract with 240,000 units a year, which is the biggest auto contract out of Europe.”

The next step will be to expand collaboration with Stena Line and provide customers with access to Europe’s largest ferry network.

“In the longer term, we may start our own short-sea service if we assess it as profitable,” says Hans Nilsson. “Land transport is another possible complement. But even now, no one can offer the same kind of comprehensive solutions there as us.”

Another thing he would like to point out is the close and successful collaboration created between the two companies from different cultures.

“It’s incredibly exciting and stimulating to work in this environment now that we’ve got everything in place,” says Hans Nilsson. “Both owners have really invested in this and the results have been extremely good.”