So what do customers want?

Roy Postlethwaite, the UK director of vehicle carrier and ro-ro operator Grimaldi, succinctly sums it up: “At the end of the day, we want competitive rates, we want quality and we want fast turnround, ” he says. “A lot of the car manufacturers are going through difficult times. They are looking for good economics – in other words, very competitive rates. They want rates held.

‘They also want zero damage. One way a car company differentiates one shipping line from another is damage. And that is about ship design as well as handling. If you have ships with big ramps and good lighting and no internal pillars, you get less damage.” Ray Facey, assistant port manager, ABP Southampton:’There has been a consistent improvement in quality with regards to the way vehicles are handled in port and the type of facilities required. Maybe we used to put cars on any piece of available land we could find but now customers require properly surfaced, secure areas.

‘They require suitable, properly trained stevedores wearing overalls and gloves; not just someone who turns up with a driving licence. Some of the manufacturers are particularly disciplined in the way they want their vehicles handled’ something that we as consumers must be grateful for.” Piet Vandenkerkhove, spokesman, Port of Zeebrugge:’The available know-how and volumes of the shortsea sector have had an almost magnetic attraction to the deepsea carriers. Zeebrugge has managed to provide an ideal interface between shortsea and deepsea transports and has as such developed an important hub function for the automotive trade.” Ray Facey, assistant port manager, ABP Southampton:’We have invested in two multi-deck terminals and there is somewhere in the region of seven hectares of space on the upper levels between the two. We will consider building another in the future if the figures stack up. It is an expensive capital outlay but if you get the commitment of the customers, it is a good option.’