The freight transport company TransContainer has started a new intermodal container service, connecting China with Germany via the Russian Ust-Luga Container Terminal (ULCT) of the Port of Ust-Luga.
Launched in January 2022, the service is being implemented in partnership with the German port of Mukran and the Baltic Sea Bridge line as customers for the project, as well as with the container transporter Ruscon, as a forwarder and agent in the port of Ust-Luga.
Regular container trains carrying Chinese goods depart from Wuhan and go via Manchuria in China and Zabaikalsk in Russia to the ULCT, which is operated by Global Ports Group and the German terminal operator Eurogate.
The transit time via the territory of Russia takes nine days. In Ust-Luga, containers are reloaded from the train onto the vessels of the Baltic Sea Bridge line for delivery to the German port of Mukran, with an overall service transit time of 21 days.
A special feature of the new international service is the use of the rail transport document CIM/SMGS Common consignment note, which is issued for the entire route of cargoes and speeds up the container handling at borders and ports.
In the future, it is planned to dispatch cargoes, using the new service 3-4 times a month, according to a statement.
“ULCT has a significant reserve of capacity and a developed railway infrastructure, including direct communication with the Luzhskaya station, one of the most modern stations in Russia,” commented Albert Likholet, CEO of Global Ports.
“The terminal’s extensive capabilities for further increasing container volumes arriving by rail allow our customers to create new, fast, and reliable logistics solutions for transit cargo flows,” he added.
