4 Positive News for 2025

Swedish Orient Lines (SOL) CEO Tommy Kalin anticipates a promising continuation into 2025. Although the global situation remains unpredictable, numerous bright spots and exciting opportunities lie ahead.

1. Positive News for Swedish Shipping

Several Nordic countries have seen significant growth in their merchant fleets for years. Unfortunately, Sweden has been moving in the opposite direction, with the number of Swedish-flagged vessels decreasing by 31% in the last decade. However, the government has finally made two important decisions for Swedish shipping: the stamp duty will be abolished from July 1 this year, and the decision to introduce a so-called bareboat register has been approved, with a proposal expected this spring. The bareboat register means an opportunity to temporarily register a ship in two countries simultaneously, an important step to increase flexibility for Swedish shipping companies, strengthen the competitiveness of Swedish shipping, and hopefully get more Swedish-flagged ships. Now, we hope that the government also tackles the issue of competitive tonnage tax. We need a world-class Swedish fleet both for our international business and for Sweden’s supply preparedness.

2. SOL Invests for the Future

For SOL’s breakbulk business, the market is always marked by uncertainty and volatility. It can be challenging to predict customer needs since much of our breakbulk business is influenced by both timber prices and the Egyptian economy, which is our most important market. The global market for sawn timber is highly price-sensitive, leading to large and rapid fluctuations in demand. However, on the positive side, Egypt’s economy continues to grow, and there is a strong need for new construction.

This year, we have had a mild winter, the opposite of last year, which was extremely severe. Regardless of the ice situation, our strategy is to always provide ice-classed tonnage to secure our customers’ transports to and from the northern Baltic Sea. However, we would like to see more long-term partnerships to rejuvenate our fleet of ice-classed vessels. Having a reliable year-round service for northbound transport is also important for many other industries around the Gulf of Bothnia, not just the forest industry.

For TransProCon, SOL’s special transport operations, we see growing activity in defense logistics and transport for national and international aid organizations. It is a challenging area due to the uncertain world situation, but we try to do our best to support a more secure and safe world. We have the knowledge and resources to help where needed, and the assignments include transports for the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) to different regions of the world, where aid shipments are needed to help the civilian population.

SOL’s joint venture company, Wallenius SOL, is also making significant investments and has recently acquired the English Ro-Ro operator Mann Lines. This is an excellent match that creates even better opportunities to meet the market’s need for transport services.
As a company and group, we continuously work on developing to meet our customers’ changing needs.

3. Positive Sustainability Steps

In the area of sustainability, I would also like to mention our second joint venture company, Scanlog, which has launched fossil-free sea transport by offering ISCC-certified biofuel under the mass balance principle, with the entire process third-party verified.
Scanlog’s fossil-free sea freight option enables customers to actively reduce their carbon footprint by 100% on sea transport—a smart and cost-effective solution by replacing traditional fossil fuels with LBG (Liquefied Biomethane) produced from manure sourced in Europe. I am truly looking forward to seeing how this initiative develops.

4. Employer of the Year

We are also very proud and happy about the Employer of the Year award in the Brilliant Awards 2025. The award is given to the company that shows the highest employee engagement. I believe that our high employee engagement has a lot to do with our culture, which has developed from our owner’s entrepreneurial spirit and humanism. This has, in turn, been passed on to all employees over a long period. In addition, SOL has engaged employees who enjoy their jobs and our industry, shipping, and logistics. With a committed team, both strong leadership and clear employee ownership are created.