STARTING November, two new feeder line services will be scheduled for regular sailings between the Port of Hamburg and Russia, the port authority said.
Team Lines the feeder container operator will launch the RUS 2 service with Hamburg - St. Petersburg - Hamburg - Bremerhaven - Hamburg rotation to augment its RUS 1 service operated by its own vessels with capacities of OOCL. The first ship will be sailing from Hamburg on November 7.
The Swan Container Line has also included Hamburg in its weekly schedule for its St. Petersburg service. On the Hamburg - St. Petersburg - Rotterdam - Hamburg rotation, two 900-TEU container vessels will link Germany's largest seaport with Russia.
In addition, the shipping company Unifeeder has announced plans to include the new Russian container terminal in Ust-Luga in its schedule starting in November.
In the first half of 2011, 276,000 TEU were transhipped between Hamburg and Russia, representing a growth of 45 per cent year on year. The region of St. Petersburg registered a five per cent increase in total seaborne cargo handling in the first six months of the year, and this trend will continue following the completion of the port of Ust-Luga, the port authority added.