THE rising cost of fuel and environmental concerns about lorries have put alternative methods of transport back on the agenda. One Medway firm is doing its bit to cut the number of lorries on our roads. Wilf Lower reports

It was the ancient Greeks and Persians who first recognised that transporting goods by water was the cheapest option and it remained so for more than 5,000 years until challenged by the railways.

In many countries, including the UK, rail gave way to road transport, which although efficient for local deliveries, is expensive and even more so with the ever-increasing cost of fuel.

Leaving aside local deliveries, moving freight nowadays by water rather than by road reduces congestion and environmental impacts and can be much cheaper. However, any change to water from road has been slow, as high port charges have made many potential short sea shipping routes uncompetitive against road and rail.

Rochester-based Scotline is Britain’s leading importer of timber from Scandinavia, with a fleet of modern ships and terminals at several ports including Inverness in the north of Scotland. The major producers of forest timber board are based in Scotland and distribution costs for their products, particularly to southern England, have gone through the roof.

Recognising the problems, Scotline worked to overcome the obstacles to sea transport and has introduced a new shipping service to bring timber board from Inverness to its Rochester terminal on Medway City Estate.

Transport by sea offers a massive reduction in pollution. The ships use gas oil - a derivative of diesel fuel, and most have only have single, high-efficiency, environmentally clean, low-emission engines.

Sea transport ticks all the right boxes as far as pollution and the environment is concerned. The only significant drawback is that it is not so fast, with the sea journey from Scotland taking a few days instead of 10-12 hours by truck.

Clearly, it would be no good for the ‘“just-in-time” practices adopted by manufacturing industries during the past decade, but with transport costs exceeding storage costs, a return to thinking and planning in advance could eliminate the downside of slower transport.

It’s good to see a local company leading the way in the UK demonstrating how to achieve substantial fuel and cost reductions, and Scotline have to be commended for their initiative.

Now if only they could find a way to fit sails to their ships....

Scotline’s new venture is proving to be a great success and so financially attractive to Scottish manufacturers that the firm will shortly expand the route to include other goods.

If fuel costs continue to rise, many road hauliers will be forced to close and the reduced availability could make waterborne transportation even more attractive.

Roy Brooks, director of Scotline and chairman of the UK Chamber of Shipping Short Sea Route Committee said, “Over the years, Scotline has invested heavily in ships and port facilities and this is expected to increase as demand rises. The savings - and hence the potential for reduced cost to consumers is enormous. Our ships can each carry at least 3,800 cubic meters of timber product - equivalent to 85 lorry movements, which cost four times more than the cost of transport by ship.

“This shows just how transporting on water can substantially reduce road congestion and fuel use. It’s long been commonplace in Europ, even inland on their wide canals, yet sadly isn’t promoted very much in the UK.”