Currently the return service ships consumer goods, including shampoo and washing powders, in 45 ft containers via Hull or Rotterdam to the Lithuanian gateway port of Klaipeda from where they are moved across Russia by road using a newly-appointed local partner. The return leg to Europe carrying a wide range of goods including advertising materials, is also handled by Ferrymasters.
The new solution, launched after a successful two-month trial, is already superior to existing Russian road services that suffered from scarce supplies and mechanical and service unreliability, but Ferrymasters, one of Europe’s leading freight management and intermodal providers, is looking to commence two train links per week, moving up to three later in 2007 as demand increases.
The new train services will increase the maximum tonnage shipped and extend Ferrymaster’s already extensive rail footprint.
Daily capacity and the flexibility to load high volumes has already made the Ferrymasters service an attractive option for businesses looking east.
Ferrymasters’ Intermodal director Bart Verbeke said the company was already experiencing growth in demand from European customers wanting to trade with Russia.
“We have seen interest from all of the markets that we currently serve in the UK, Ireland, Benelux, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey and the other Baltic States.? I believe we will see 15 per cent growth every year and we already have a number of blue chip organisations offering large volume traffic,” he said.
“The main growth is from Western European countries wanting to break into the Russian market due to the buying power of those countries. We are attractive because offer the expertise of a European logistics provider combined with the grass roots support of a local partner with broad experience of the market. We also have dedicated Russian speakers at our service desk in Zeebrugge while our partner has offices in Moscow and Klaipeda to provide on-the-ground support.”