Capacity limitations of the railway border crossing points in the Russian Far East prompt operators to launch deep sea services, Alexey Kravchenko, Director, Commerce, of FESCO Integrated Transport, part of FESCO Group, said speaking at TransCont conference in Moscow.
Such solutions already exist, with two options possible, either by launching own services or via partnership with third parties via transshipment hubs.
“Operating via transshipment requires more possibilities to negotiate with foreign partners and smaller investment into own tonnage. This is what we see with services via Istanbul. Similar solutions are emerging for St. Petersburg,” Kravchenko noted.
Launching a deep sea service operated partly with owned vessels requires serious investment and an access to the charter market, he said.
According to Kravchenko, the market needs a fortnightly service with 2,000 to 4,000 TEU container ships deployed.
FESCO aims to launch a deep sea service deploying its own assets between ports in China and St. Petersburg by the end of the next year, Kravchenko said.