Eimskip and Royal Arctic Line A/S sign a Letter of Intent
Eimskip and Royal Arctic Line A/S have signed a letter of intent to connect Greenland into Eimskip’s international sailing system through a capacity sharing agreement, connecting Greenland to the rest of the world. The two companies intend to work together through capacity sharing on larger vessels that will increase efficiency and service reliability.
The companies will invest in and operate container vessels designed and built for the special weather conditions in the North Atlantic and the Arctic, in accordance with the Polar Code. The new vessels will be designed for increased fuel efficiency and will therefore be more environmentally friendly. The estimated time of designing and building the vessels is two to three years. The new vessels will connect the transport systems of Greenland and Iceland with Scandinavia, Europe and North America.
A final agreement on the cooperation will be subject to approval from the parties’ Boards of Directors and the relevant authorities.
Gylfi Sigfússon, President and CEO of Eimskip
“Planned port developments in Nuuk, Reykjavík and Tórshavn are enabling larger vessel sizes to serve in the market area. By pooling Eimskip’s volumes with Royal Arctic Line and using fewer and larger vessels facilitates efficiency gains. The cooperation is an important step in renewal and development of Eimskip’s vessel fleet and it expands the company’s coverage in the North Atlantic. This will also, without any doubt, increase the business activities between the countries in the Arctic.”
Verner Hammeken, CEO of Royal Arctic Line
“This agreement is an important step for connecting Greenland to the global markets. It creates opportunities for our export customers, allowing goods to be further refined in Greenland before transporting them directly to destinations all over the world in a more efficient way. Customers can also select transportation directly from new market areas instead of having to go through Denmark. With this, we are looking at a future with more options, higher efficiency and ease of use, making it easy to do business with Greenland.”
About Royal Arctic Line
Royal Arctic Line A/S was founded in 1993 and is wholly owned by the Government of Greenland. The Government of Greenland has given Royal Arctic Line A/S sole concession on sea transport of cargo to and from Greenland and among Greenlandic towns and settlements. This has made the company a lifeline for Greenlandic society. Royal Arctic Line also operates 13 ports in Greenland.
About Eimskip
Eimskip was founded in 1914 and is a publicly traded company with its shares listed on Nasdaq Iceland. The company runs a network of 57 offices in 19 countries, operates 20 vessels and has about 1,580 employees. Approximately half of Eimskip’s operating revenue comes from operations outside Iceland. The company’s vision is to provide outstanding transportation services through a dependable transport system in the North Atlantic, as well as offering an extensive worldwide network of reefer logistics services.
Eimskip has been an agent for Royal Arctic Line since 1993. Recently, the cooperation has been extended by appointing TVG-Zimsen, Eimskip’s subsidiary, as a forwarder of air-freight and trucking for Royal Arctic Line in Europe.
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