900,000 tonnes of aluminium are moved by Wilson’s bulk carriers every year for Hydro Aluminium, the largest producer of aluminium in Norway. Wilson has five vessels that are fully occupied working for Hydro.

Most of the aluminium comes from the Hydro plant at Sunndalsøra, but it also comes from Karmøy, both in Norway. “This corresponds to about 75 per cent of Hydro’s annual production, while the remainder is shipped by road,” says Jostein Bjørgo, the Chartering Manager.
Wilson has been active in industrial shipping for more than 60 years. Today, Wilson stands out as one of Europe’s largest carriers of raw materials and semi-manufactured goods, and two-thirds of its business is related to Norwegian customers and the rest to other European companies.
“In addition to the finished aluminium, we ship pet coke and pitch for Hydro. The pet coke is used in the production process in the smelters (please see separate story on Hydro page 22), as is the pitch – the latter is transported in tanks built into the holds of our specialised bulk carriers,” says Bjørgo.
There are five Wilson vessels trading exclusively for Hydro Aluminium. The Wilson Star is a 4,452 dwt Ro/Ro sideport vessel built in 1989 and registered in Sweden. The Wilson Express is a 5,482 sideport Ro/Ro built in 1983 and registered in the Norwegian International Register. The Leiro and Lindo, both 3,580 dwt and built in 1981 and 1982 respectively, carry liquid pitch and aluminium. The bulk carrier Wilson Fjord, 3,843 dwt, was built in 1977 and was originally a container vessel.
“The destination from Norway is normally Rotterdam, where the aluminium is shipped to end users producing anything from beverage cans to aluminium for airplane production and other highly specialised applications. There are actually some 200 plus destinations from Rotterdam for the aluminium ‘logs’,” says Bjørgo. “The two sideport Ro/Ro vessels are actually converted bulk carriers which we have tailored especially for this trade.”
Eirin Helland is responsible for the daily operations of, among other things, the five vessels for Hydro Aluminium.
“I think Hydro Aluminium is quite satisfied with the work we do for them. This year we can celebrate the 50th anniversary of our transport arrangements for Hydro Aluminium. Our two sideport vessels come complete with a fork lift truck to load the aluminium, and they run on a regular schedule, especially from the plant at Sunndalsøra. We also call on other Hydro plants, such as Årdal where we transport 100 per cent of the produced aluminium, as well as Høyanger and Karmøy. The pitch is transported in specially made tanks on the Leiro and Lindo, and each vessel can carry 1,200 tons of pitch in two 600-tonne tanks. We also transport pet coke, which requires the hold to be cleaned afterwards.
“We carry other materials for Hydro too, and the concept is to utilise our vessels to capacity whenever possible. On average, the five vessels are only on ballast voyages some 14 per cent of the year.”
Says Øivind Gjerde, Managing Director of Wilson: “On any particular day, the entire Wilson fleet carries some 319,724 tonnes (as at 3 October 2005) of cargo.
It would require more than 10,600 trucks to transport the same amount of cargo by road. Our advantage is that we have a flexible fleet of 101 vessels (as at November 2006) operating mainly in Europe – from Russia to the Mediterranean.”
Our meeting with Wilson was held right in the middle of the trading room of the Bergen-based shipowner’s office. The environment can best be described as professionally hectic – due to the fact that Wilson has a fleet of more than 100 vessels in operation. In addition to the head office, the company also has an office in Duisburg, Germany, and employs a staff of 1,100, of whom 1,000 are mariners.
For more information, please visit www.wilsonship.no

Date: 05 February 2008