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K Line European Sea Highway Services

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K Line European Sea Highway Services GmbH
IndustryTransport Automotive
Founded2003
HeadquartersBremen, Germany
Websitewww.kess.kline.de

K Line European Sea Highway Services GmbH (KESS) is a roll-on/roll-off shipping line based in Bremen, Germany and is a subsidiary of the Japanese shipping line K Line.

Company overview

KESS was founded by K Line Tokyo in 2003 and operates with a fleet of 11 car carrier vessels in Western and Northern Europe. KESS specialises in feeder traffic, known as short sea shipping, between the large car terminals in Bremerhaven and Zeebrugge and various smaller car terminals in the North Sea and Baltic Sea area. It transports around 800,000 vehicles per year.

KESS has its roots in a joint venture established in 1991 between KESS parent company "K" Line Tokyo and the former Bremen - based automotive logistics company and shipowner Egon H. Harms.

KESS was created by to both offer an intra Europe short sea service to Japanese car makers manufacturing cars in European plants, and to provide feeder carriage to smaller European ports not called at by larger oceanic vessels.[1]

The company in fact specializes in the maritime transport and distribution of cargo such as automobiles, trucks, trailers, Mafi roll trailers, heavy construction machineries and further types of rolling cargo.

The main trade lanes are European, and specifically ports in North Continent Europe, including Germany, Belgium, UK,[2] Ireland, Scandinavia,[3] Baltic region and Russia.

The company operates 11 roll-on/roll-off ships.[4]

Fleet

Vessel Length Max. Capacity (Vehicles) Built
Elbe Highway 148 m 1600 2005
Thames Highway 148 m 1600 2005
Danube Highway 148 m 1600 2006
Seine Highway 148 m 1600 2007
Ems Highway 100 m 850 1999
Isar Highway 100 m 850 2000
Main Highway 100 m 850 1998
Neckar Highway 100 m 850 1999
Schelde Highway 100 m 750 1993
Weser Highway 100 m 750 1994
Malacca Highway 139 m 1250 2001

(Status: January 2020)[5]

Facts and accidents

KESS ships are distinguished from those of its parent company K Line by having their hull painted in red as opposed to the grey of K Line.

On 21 September 2017, Greenpeace activists attempted to block the discharging of Volkswagen Suv and cars into Sheerness port, disrupting for several hours the operations of mv Elbe Highway.[6]

On 23 July 2018, car carrier vessel Makassar Highway ran aground at full speed in the Tjust archipelago near Loftahammar, Sweden, causing an oil spill.[7][8]

  • mv Danube Highway
    mv Danube Highway
  • mv Main Highway
    mv Main Highway
  • mv Elbe Highway
    mv Elbe Highway
  • mv Weser Highway
    mv Weser Highway
  • KESS vessel
    KESS vessel

See also

References

  1. ^ "KESS shipping line wants one more berth in Cuxhaven". Logistik Express. 27 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Greenpeace Activists Climb on K Line's Car Carrier". worldmaritimenews.com.
  3. ^ "Damaged Kess vessel, Makassar Highway, being towed to Swedish port". www.vesselfinder.com.
  4. ^ "German operator launches new service". Afloat. 6 February 2017.
  5. ^ The Fleet, kess.kline.de, retrieved 22 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Greenpeace activists board ship". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  7. ^ Chambers, Sam (24 July 2018). "K Line car carrier hard aground in southern Sweden". Splash 247. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Swedish coast guard works to clean up 14,000-litre oil spill". The Local. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
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