Since March 4, no Russian trucks have been allowed to board the Aurora Botnia, which operates the Kvarken between Umeå and Vaasa.
- Based on prevailing circumstances and the war in Ukraine, it was a fairly easy decision to make.
We think that it gives an important signal effect, states Fredrik Lundberg.
Dependence on Russian gas
It is not as easy to stop buying natural gas from Russia, which the ferry is to some extent powered by.
When gas prices before the turn of the year skyrocketed, they instead started to run the ferry on diesel, but now that diesel prices have been at a record level, the ferry is running on gas again.
Right now, the supplier Gasum buys more natural gas from Norway, but it is still very dependent on Russian gas.
- We have built a ferry that will run on gas and the supplier we have is from Russia.
We would be very happy if we were not dependent on Russian natural gas.
This is a more long-term issue that we are working on together with other shipping companies, says Fredrik Lundberg.
How does this rhyme with the signal you want to send by not allowing Russian-registered trucks?
- We have full control over which vehicles we transport, but we do not have full control over the fuel.
The fuel issue is important, if we had the opportunity to buy gas from another supplier, we would have done it, says Fredrik Lundberg.