Chennai:
Port Wins News Network:
The first container train carrying Japanese cargo by Maersk was sent along the Trans-Siberian Railway from the Nakhodka-Vostochnaya station.
This train includes forty 40-foot containers (FEU) shipping sportswear and equipment. They were transported by sea from the Port of Yokohama in Japan to Vostochny Port, where they were loaded onto rail.
The train will travel through the Russian Railways network to the Port of St. Petersburg for subsequent shipment by sea to the Port of Felixstowe in Great Britain.
The total transit time from Japan to the United Kingdom will be about 42 days, including 11 days on the Russian Railways network. It will travel 10,000 km by rail.
The delivery of containers between the ports of Vostochny and St. Petersburg through the territory of Russia is carried out as part of the regular AE19 Maersk service operated jointly with the Modul company. AE19 began in August 2019, and shipments are made up to three times a week.
The transit transportation of containers from Japan to Nordic countries through the Trans-Siberian may become a regular service in 2021.
“Sending a train carrying Japanese cargo with Maersk is a vivid example of the synergy of sea and rail transport. Together, we expect to provide our clients/shippers a high level of service, speed and safety in the delivery of goods over ultralong distances,” said Deputy General Director of Russian Railways Alexey Shilo.
“Transportation through Russia is becoming a more and more attractive alternative for the delivery of containers between Asia and Europe, even for what are traditionally sea routes, like from Japan to the United Kingdom. We firmly believe that the backlog of regular railway services between the Pacific and Baltic coasts of Russia, created by us together with Russian Railways last year, will ensure further growth in international transit in 2021,” said Zsolt Katona, CEO of Maersk Eastern Europe.
Since 2018, Russian Railways and the Ministry of Lands, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan have been implementing a joint project to organize railway transportation to Europe along the Trans-Siberian Railway. Together with Maersk, significant work was carried out among Japanese shippers in 2020 to develop container transit through Russia.