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TRANSBO-EXPRESS
30th march 2015

SHANGHAI – DOURGES AND SHANGHAI – LILLE IN 30 DAYS, VIA DUNKIRK AND THE NPS MULTIMODAL SERVICE

LAUNCH OF THE «TRANSBO-EXPRESS» TRANSHIPMENT SERVICE: NON STOP SEA-TO-WATERWAY TRANSPORT FOR CLIENTS IN THE NORD-PAS DE CALAIS REGION

Since the end of 2013 the combined waterway transport operator NORD PORT SHUTTLE (NPS) has run two rotations a week between Dunkirk’s container terminal (Flanders Terminal) and the inland port terminals of Lille (LCT) and Dourges (LDCT).

For the benefit of clients of the new Asia-Service provided by the OCEAN 3 Alliance, which has called at Dunkirk since 14 February with excellent transit times at import, the operator has decided to upgrade all its waterway services and offer a «tranship express» service for containers in the Dunkirk Terminal.

The cargo handler undertakes to reload the specified containers on the NPS barge as soon as the OCEAN 3 mother-ship completes its commercial operations at the Flanders Terminal on Saturdays. This agreement means that NPS can leave the Terminal just hours after the containers arrive from Asia, and transport them overnight for discharge in Dourges on Monday morning and Lille on Monday afternoon, with immediate delivery to the warehouse.

This rotation, providing ideal synchronisation between mother-ship and barge, is available for containers under the Waterway and Maritime Procedure («PFM»), a super-simplified customs procedure which allows exemption from NST-type transit documents.

In total, a container coming from Shanghai takes just 30 days to reach Dourges or Lille, via Dunkirk and the NPS multimodal transport service.

The excellent synchronisation of the service, and the simplified procedure offered by the PFM, are bringing the port of Dunkirk much closer to the waterway terminals of Lille and Dourges and reinforcing the concept of an extended gateway for the Nord-Pas de Calais region.

NPS Chairman Christophe Thebaud stresses the successful launch of this new rotation: «From the first call, the idea of express transhipment has been welcomed by many shippers, as proved by the excellent filling rates already achieved for the weekend barge.»

Stéphane Raison, CEO of the Port of Dunkirk, is pleased to note that «in this innovative system, NPS has succeeded in combining the conventional economic and environmental advantages of waterway transport with the equally important concept of optimised transit time.»

The setup of this system has been made possible by very close cooperation with the customs authorities’ economic action unit.

Regional Director Stéphane Mage guarantees «that his staff constantly seek to identify ways to improve logistics processes by optimised and tailor-made tools for simplifying customs procedures. The Waterway and Maritime Procedure, which was tested and put in place in Dunkirk a few years ago, allows logistics cycles that are independent of working hours. It is a win-win system which provides greater visibility and traceability for the customs inspectors, and enhanced fluidity for goods traffic to the hinterland.»

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