Maersk increased the frequency of its AE19 transcontinental service between Asia and Europe in the eastward direction to weekly as of April 6.
The service frequency in the westward direction will be four times a week starting April 24. To support the growing demand, Maersk is deploying an additional vessel between Busan and Vostochny as of week 16.
Maersk started providing an ocean-rail transit service between Asia and Europe in March 2019 in cooperation with Russia’s Modul, which operates the rail part of the service, Global Ports, which offers terminal services in St. Petersburg (FCT) and Vostochny (VSC).
Most of the cargo originates from Poland, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands and is designated for Republic of Korea, North China, and Japan. The service is also available for Russian shippers.
The transit time across Russia is 12 days, the total transit time between European Baltic ports and Asian ports makes 25-30 days compared to 40-45 days via Suez.