NORTH-EAST vessel-sharing organisation Aberdeen Marine Logistics Alliance (Amla) said yesterday it was on course to record more than £1.5million of savings for its members in 2010 after its operations doubled in frequency during the first half of this year.
Amla, which arranges vessel shares between firms operating in the North Sea to reduce costs and environmental impact, said 35 vessel shares took place during the first six months of 2010; more than twice the figure of a year earlier.
It added that the reduction in CO emissions thanks to vessel shares handled by Amla during this time was the equivalent to removing 385 small cars from public roads for a year.
The group said that over the same six-month period, financial savings for members topped £825,000 and it expected savings to reach more than £1.5million by the end of 2010.
The alliance is managed by logistics firm Peterson SBS, which is responsible for identifying sharing opportunities between its members operating from Peterhead and Aberdeen.
Membership of the alliance currently stands at 25.
Mike Munro, marine service manager at Peterson SBS, said: “In a tight market where supply and demand don’t correspond, being a member of Amla can mean the difference between delivering priority cargo to a North Sea installation or facing a potential shutdown situation due to a lack of vessel availability.”