The Cobelfret-susidiary CLdN, which specialises primarily in Ro-Ro services, is set to expand its container shipping operations on routes to and from the UK. The takeover of the relevant business from Samskip has been approved by the authorities.
Both short-sea shipping companies have now announced that all the conditions for the takeover of Samskip’s freight business – covering both port-to-port and door-to-door services – between mainland Europe, the UK and Ireland have been met. Accordingly, the services will be integrated into CLdN’s network from 29 June. All regulatory approvals have been granted.
The acquisition agreement was announced in February. It covers the container shipping services that Samskip has been operating until recently between the Dutch port of Rotterdam and the British ports of Belfast, Blythe, Grangemouth, Hull and Tilbury, as well as the Irish ports of Cork, Dublin and Waterford. These services handle more than 1,000 port calls annually. The transaction also includes the door-to-door freight services connecting the UK and Ireland with continental Europe; this includes the takeover of lease agreements for more than 5,000 multimodal loading units – including 45-foot pallet containers (Pallet-Wide), refrigerated containers and curtain-side containers, as well as 40- and 45-foot flat racks and 40-foot high-cube refrigerated containers.
For CLdN, the short-sea shipping company belonging to the Cobelfret Group, the sale significantly expands its route network. Just at the start of the year, the company had launched a new scheduled service between Rotterdam and the Portuguese port of Leixões . The combined use of container and RoRo vessels on such long routes was announced by CLdN in 2024 as a ‘strategic plan’. The shipping company had actually been primarily focused on RoRo services. For some time now, however, increasing attention has been paid to container shipping. It has even launched itsown series of newbuilds. Founded in 1929, the shipping company operates short-sea services between the European mainland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Iberian Peninsula and Scandinavia with a fleet of 30 vessels and more than 200 sailings per week. The RoRo vessels are primarily used to transport vehicles, as well as heavy-lift and MPP cargo. Newlybuilt RoRo vessels are also joining the fleet.
CLdN has now emphasised its intention to guarantee customers “a seamless continuation of the services previously offered by Samskip”. Neither party has disclosed any financial details of the sale at this stage.
“The transaction strengthens CLdN’s offering in the short-sea container shipping sector for existing and new customers between mainland Europe, the UK and Ireland. It is in line with CLdN’s strategy of offering complementary /roll-off (RoRo) services for mixed cargo, as well as /lift-off (LoLo) services specifically for containers,” a statement said. Furthermore, the transaction “significantly” expands the scope of CLdN’s multimodal door-to-door operations through the integration of a larger fleet and an expanded network, particularly between the UK/Ireland and /Eastern Europe.
Samskip also intends to continue connecting its customers directly to the UK and Ireland via its “comprehensive multimodal network and freight forwarding operations”. Services to and from the UK and Ireland will continue to be offered from Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, as well as from Poland, Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Baltic states.
“Our industry is evolving rapidly, and successful companies must keep pace with these developments,” said Ólafur Orri Ólafsson, CEO of Samskip. “This milestone enables us to focus our efforts on what matters most to our customers: reliable services, strong regional expertise and a seamless multimodal network that helps to simplify increasingly complex supply chains.”
