- Maersk says its new intermodal service cuts by two-thirds transit time for transporting cargoes from Busan to Kaliningrad
- Fortnightly AE66 service will link Korea, Japan and China to Kaliningrad in Russia, the Baltic countries and Poland via Trans-Siberian Rail
- Maersk eyes customers dealing with high-value, lead-time-sensitive cargoes, such as the automotive, electric, and facilities sectors
Swedish shipping giant AP Moeller-Maersk will fully operate starting this week an intermodal service that cuts transit time from Busan, South Korea, to Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea to one-third the time it takes for purely ocean shipping, the company said on February 23.
Maersk did not specify a starting date for the AE66, which will link Korea, Japan and China to Kaliningrad in Russia, the Baltic countries and Poland via Trans-Siberian Rail.
But the world’s largest container shipping and vessel operator said the new sea-rail-sea service runs west-bound fortnightly, departing from the seaport of Vostochniy in the Russian Far East on the Pacific coast to Kaliningrad, with robust outlooks for further expansion.
Maersk said its AE66 service comes at the perfect time to help ease current logistics woes to move goods shipped from the Far East to Europe.
“The new offering provides global traders shorter transit times, cost-friendliness, and greener services. With tens of thousands of containers moving from Asia to Europe, providing creative solutions that offer better customer experience is the main driver of our activity,” Maersk said.
The regular service can transport goods in less than 20 days from Busan to Kaliningrad and adjacent locations in the Baltics, compared with an average of 55-60 days for ocean routes via the Suez Canal, Maersk said.
Fixed sailings in Asia and stable departures by Trans-Siberian Rail from Vostochniy will enable highly reliable on-time delivery, similar to AE19 and AE77 services, Maersk’s other sea-rail-sea services.
Sustainable operations and stable schedules for the new AE66 service are said to be ensured through close interaction and support by RU Federal Customs and Russian Railways. Port operations are provided by Global Ports, while rail services are handled by TransContainer JSC.
“Our choice for AE66 to carry our items from Asia via Vostochniy was determined by multiple factors, like free on board (FOB) price, sustainable transit time and overall logistics expense to bring goods to our production factory in Kaliningrad,” said Viktor Chumachenko, director of Logistics at GK Ekopet.
He said the key task of diversifying Logistics’ supply chain and eliminating risks of delay due to the pandemic is solved by AE66, which enables his company to source terephthalic acid from locations in Asia.
Maersk plans to further increase volume by targeting customer segments dealing with high value and/or lead time-sensitive cargoes, such as the automotive, electric, and facilities sectors.
The company said its AE66, AE19, AE77 intermodal services from Asia to Europe offer a compelling alternative to the long transit times on ocean transportation and expensive rates on air transport.
