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AMERICAN ROLL-ON ROLL-OFF CARRIER (ARC) operate a US ? ag ship just for the MSP customer through that global network. As an example of “clarity and con- stipend. It’s a cargo driven industry, and We are certainly a unique business unit sistency,” Ebeling points ? rst to “the those cargoes help to offset the foreign within the Wallenius Wilhelmsen group simple stuff” … or what reasonably ? ag cost differential.” given our mission and our customer set. should be considered simple, and that’s

The $5.3m stipend per ship was the But there’s a lot of bene? ts to being a scoring a ship’s emission signature. amount decided when MSP was last part of that global company as well.” “Are we scoring it on well to wake reauthorized in 2019, and at the time This synergy extends too when fac- or are we scoring it on tank to wake?

Ebeling said the amount was suf? cient ing one of the most pervasive challeng- You can get different answers, and for its purpose. But with the Covid es facing any shipowner today: embrac- that’s just one potential talking point. pandemic and the myriad of changing ing and enacting energy transition to hit Also, there are around 16 different fuel cost dynamics, from raging in? ation to decarbonization targets. options for ships today. But are those supply chain snarls, he said it’s worth “There are some really unique fuels available in industrial quantities? revisiting if that payment is suf? cient challenges around greenhouse gas Are they available globally? You can’t in 2024. emissions and decarbonization,” said easily, or cost-effectively change fuel in

Ebeling. “That’s an important part of an existing ship.”

ARC & the Wallenius Wilhelmsen our long-term strategy, but by the same “So really it’s about getting to some

ASA Group token, industry is not going to do that uniform, consistent regulation so that

As a part of the Wallenius Wilhelm- alone. We need clear policy guidance to we can make the smart capital invest- sen Group ASA, ARC is able to tap a guide our strategic decisions, whether ments and decisions to continue to shipping, port and logistics value chain that’s from the U.S. government or the grow our US ? ag merchant ? eet.” globally that measures its experience in IMO.” centuries, not decades. With experience “We’re one of four different business units in the group, and there are a lot of synergies,” said Ebeling. “But we have an independent board of US directors at ARC. Our chairman is General John

Handy, a former commander of U.S.

Transportation Command. We have a strong U.S. citizen leadership team also, and that’s really to make sure that we maintain U.S. control of the com- pany and our ships, which are carrying those government cargoes. So that’s relevant.”

In total Wallenius Wilhelmsen

Group ASA [according to its 2022 An- nual Report] encompasses 125 vessels transporting 3.65 million units; eight terminals handling more than 3.1 mil- lion units; and 66 services and process- ing centers, processing more than 5.1 million vehicles. In 2022 it had 8,875 employees in 29 countries.

“We have a lot of synergies within the Wallenius Wilhelmsen group of companies,” said Ebeling. “We can tap into port services, logistics services, other capabilities. So it is a bit of a force multiplier for us, and it does help us in turn, provide better service to our www.marinelink.com 29

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