Ostrobothnian Scandic Trans Ltd’s new freight line between Vaasa and Umeå begins its operations in October. The company has long been searching for a more effective and affordable way of transporting food supplies from Southern Finland to Norrland in Sweden. Now, thanks to a new Swedish cooperation partner and the ferry connection over the Kvarken Strait, the company has finally found a solution. 
Scandic Trans Ltd, a company specializing in food supply transports in Scandinavia, has previously transported its goods to Norrland via Stockholm. Although the majority of the goods have been loaded in Turku and Helsinki and the surrounding regions, the practice has still been ineffective and relatively expensive.
“We started searching for a Swedish partner because we had a strong need to establish functional distribution in Norrland. We found a perfect partner in Lincargo Ab, a Swedish expeditor owned by the Norrmejerier dairy company,” says Mr Mikael Löfqvist, Scandic Trans’s Managing Director.
The companies synchronized their needs – and it took only one meeting – and the new line is set to open in mid-October.
“Norrmejerier has a stream of goods to Finland, and our cooperation was able to commence very smoothly and quickly. We possess the same sort of mentality on both sides of the Kvarken and have a tradition of good contacts. What’s more, we speak the same language, which is naturally an advantage,” Mr Löfqvist states.
To start with, the freight line will operate once a week; with departures from Vaasa on Fridays and from Umeå on Sundays. Scandic Trans transports the goods from Southern Finland and Vaasa over to Umeå, wherefrom Lincargo takes over the distribution. The goods will be transported with a vehicle especially dedicated to the new line. According to Mr Löfqvist, the cooperation has a good chance of continued development.
“Customer needs are naturally decisive, but right now we can reach every small village shop in the whole of Norrland – and faster and cheaper than before. This means that we can now compete with the bigger companies, something that wasn’t possible before.”
Ms Anna Måtts-Fransén, the Logistics Expert at VASEK and Project Leader for the Botnia-Atlantica project E12 Atlantica Transport, celebrates Scandic Trans’s new solution and sees it as concrete evidence of the need for a functional ferry connection and transport route between the two countries.
“The east-west stream of goods is important, and the project aims to eliminate possible border obstacles and bottlenecks along the E12 route, all the way from the Norwegian Atlantic ports to the Finnish Ostrobothnia. We strive to bring about the necessary infrastructure investments and, consequently, increase the region’s competitiveness and vitality,” Ms Måtts-Fransén explains.
The project also supports the Midway Alignment project. It is extremely important for the region to maintain the E12 Corridor as a part of the European-wide transport network.
Text: Anna Sand
E12 Atlantica Transport – The project is a cross-border cooperation between partners in Finland, Sweden and Norway along the E12, focusing on development of a functional multi-modal transport route for goods and passengers, joint strategies for cross-border planning and future cooperation structures.
E12 Atlantica Transport partners
Kvarken Council (Lead part, FI), MidtSkandia (NO), Blå Vägen (SE) Region Västerbotten (SE), Regional Council of Ostrobothnia (FI), Nordland fylkeskommune (NO) Vaasa Regional Development Company VASEK (FI), Umeå Municipality (SE), Vännäs Municipality (SE), Vindeln Municipality (SE), Lycksele Municipality (SE), Storuman Municipality (SE), Infrastruktur i Umeå AB INAB (SE), Rana Utviklingsselskap AS (NO), Rana Municipality (NO), Polarsirkeln lufthavnutvickling (NO), Port of Mo i Rana (NO), Mo Industripark AS (NO), Alstahaug havnevesen KF (NO), Helgeland Havn IKS (NO)