Decrease in maritime transport

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A total of 43.3 million tonnes of goods were transported to and from the main Norwegian ports in the 1st quarter of 2017, which is 5.1 per cent less than in the 1st quarter of 2016.

Liquid bulk totalled 21.7 million tonnes in the 1st quarter of 2017, which was a fall of 2.8 million tonnes, or 11.7 per cent. There was very little liquid bulk from Kirkenes, while the port of Bergen had an increase of 1.3 million tonnes in the same period.

Increase in dry bulk

A total of 16.5 million tonnes of dry bulk was transported in the 1st quarter of 2017. This was an increase of 5.9 per cent compared with the 1st quarter of 2016. Both Narvik port and Grenland (Porsgrunn) had a moderate increase in the same period.

Decrease in volume of container goods

A total of 1.4 million tonnes of goods were transported in containers in the 1st quarter of 2017. This was a decrease of 5.7 per cent compared to the 1st quarter of 2016. In total, 188 000 containers were transported with and without cargo, which is an increase of 4 500 from the same period of 2016.

Fewer travellers with the Coastal Express Liner

During the 1st quarter of 2017, 65 600 passengers travelled with the Coastal Express Liner Hurtigruten, which is a decrease of 5 per cent compared to the 1st quarter of 2016. While there was an increase of 2 000 passengers in February, there was a decrease of passengers in January and March.

Figure 1. Goods loaded and unloaded per quarter in international transport

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
1st quarter 27.0 25.8 29 29.1 28.4
2nd quarter 28.8 23.9 30 30.6
3rd quarter 30.4 28.3 31.6 28.9
4th quarter 28.8 30.5 30.1 30.8

New data source for arrivals of vessels from 1st quarter 2017

From 1st quarter 2017 Statistics Norway publishes statistics on arrivals of vessels based on data from SafeSeaNet (SSN). This has the following consequences for the statistics:

• Statistics for port calls now include vessels in maritime transport (tankers, bulk vessels, general cargo/other dry cargo vessels and offshore vessels) of 300 gross tonnes or more. Before the 1st quarter of 2017 it included vessels of 100 gross tonnes and more.

• After the change of data source, more bulk vessel (type of vessel 2) are registered as general cargo/other dry cargo vessels (type of vessel 3). For offshore vessels and tankers, the change of data source has no consequences. See the classifications for Statistics Norway’s types of vessel for more information.

With the new data source, there are fewer port calls, but the total gross tonnes of the ships arriving at the ports are less influenced by the transition to SSN port call data. In addition, the port call data from SSN will increase the number of port calls made by the general cargo/other dry cargo vessels and reduce the bulk vessels’ port calls. Consequently, the statistics on general cargo/other dry cargo and bulk ships before and after the 1st quarter of 2017 are difficult to compare.

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