In the winter of 2016, Viasea deployed its first vessel from Moerdijk, a key inland seaport between Rotterdam and Antwerp in the Netherlands, bound for Oslo and the nearby coastal town of Moss in Norway.
The sailing was spurred by declining reliability in short-sea services in the Oslofjord area – stretching from Oslo to the Skagerrak strait.
Long regarded as a strong alternative to road transport, the sector entered a challenging period for regional logistics providers.
One of those businesses, ColliCare Logistics, decided to establish its own independent service with reliability at its core, placing an industry stalwart at the helm: Morten Pettersen.
“Our aim has the whole time been to move cargo from trailers to containers, and not only compete with existing cargo already moved in containers,” he said.
Viasea, which joined GB Global last November after being acquired by Ellerman City Liners, went on to become Oslo’s leading short-sea service by volume in 2022. In less than a decade, the company’s small team of three increased to 35.
Today, Viasea operates two main legs: a weekly sailing from Rotterdam to Oslo, Moss, Fredrikstad, Larvik and Kristiansand in Norway; and a weekly Baltic service from Klaipeda, Lithuania, and Gdynia, Poland, to Oslo and Kristiansand, as well as Immingham and Thamesport in the UK.
The company has offices in Tallinn, Riga, Klaipeda, Gdynia, Rotterdam, Immingham and Moss, and operates a fleet of three vessels: Vohburg (800 TEU), Energy (750 TEU) and Jork Ruler (803 teu).
In 2025, ViaSea shipped almost 50,000 payable teu and generated revenues of more than €43 million. Its clients include Bohus Logistics, a Norwegian chain of furniture stores; Bama, a major fruit and vegetable importer and distributor in Norway; and freight forwarders like its old parent company, Callicare.
While ColliCare no longer owns the business, ViaSea’s focus on reliability and short transit times between main ports remains unchanged.
Now part of Ellerman, Morten is optimistic about the company’s next phase of growth and the access to new markets that the partnership brings. .
“Joining forces with Ellerman City Liners and becoming part of GB Global is a natural evolution for Viasea,” he said. “We share a common focus on customer service, innovation, and sustainable logistics. This partnership will allow us to scale our operations while staying true to our values.”