St. Petersburg, fully operational as of this week, the new AE66 service links Korea, Japan, and China to the Kaliningrad Region in Russia, the Baltic countries, and Poland through Trans-Siberian.
The new Sea-Rail-Sea service runs west-bound fortnightly departing from the seaport of Vostochniy in Russia Far East (at the Pacific to Kaliningrad on the Baltic sea, with robust outlooks for further expansion.
Current logistics woes
Transit times of the new regular service are significantly reduced vs purely Ocean services: it can transport goods in less than 20 days from Busan to Kaliningrad and the adjacent locations in the Baltics region, compared to an average of 55-60 days for Ocean routes via the Suez Canal.
“Maersk A66 services 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 – Europe, providing creative solutions that offer better customer experience is the main driver of our activity,” said Zsolt Katona, Eastern Europe Managing Director, A.P. Moller –Maersk.
Overall logistics expense
Our choice for AE66 to carry our items from Asia via Vostochniy was determined by multiple factors"
Fixed sailings in Asia, as well as stable departures by Trans-Siberian Rail from Vostochniy, will enable highly reliable on-time delivery, similar to AE19 and AE77 services, the other Sea- Rail-Sea services currently offered by A.P. Moller – Maersk.
“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. The key task of diversifying our supply chain and eliminating risks of delay caused by COVID-19, is also perfectly solved by AE66 by enabling us to source Terephthalic Acid (TPA) from multiple locations in Asia. Thanks to the new service we have been also able to involve the new suppliers, which would be impossible if relying on the Ocean route only,” said Viktor Chumachenko, Director of Logistics at GK Ekopet.
Intermodal freight services
Sustainable operations and stable schedules for the new AE66 service are ensured through close interaction and support by RU Federal Customs (FTS) and Russian Railways. Port operations are provided by Global Ports, while rail services are handled by TransContainer JSC.
Maersk plans to further increase volume by targeting customer segments dealing with high value and/or lead-time-sensitive cargos, such as the Automotive, Electric, and Facilities sectors. A.P. Moller -Maersk intermodal services (AE66, AE19, AE77) from Asia to Europe offer a compelling alternative to the long transit times in Ocean transportation and the expensive rates in Air transportation.
