FESCO increasing container shipments with China, plans to expand sea services

KAZAN. Nov 15 (Interfax) - FESCO Transportation Group, the flagship of which is the Far Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO) , plans to develop sea container shipments between Russian and Chinese ports, group president Pyotr Ivanov said at the Russian-Chinese forum in Kazan.

"Among our upcoming plans, we will launch an updated sea service from Chinese ports to Novorossiysk, FESCO Black Sea Service, and we plan to expand our flagship FESCO China Express Line service by the end of the year by launching a fourth [container] line which will allow us to increase [total service capacity] by 15%," he said.

"FESCO's total container turnover between Russia and China in nine months was 280,000 TEU [twenty-foot equivalent units]. We don't think that's the limit, and it will undoubtedly grow," he said.

Container turnover between Russia and China reached 3.1 million TEU in 2023, and is projected to grow 16% in 2024, Ivanov said.

FESCO, which is under the Rosatom state corporation's control, owns assets in the port, railway and integrated logistics business. FESCO owns PJSC Commercial Port of Vladivostok , the Fesco Integrated Transport intermodal operator, the Dalreftrans refrigerated container operator, as well as the Transgarant and Fesco Trans companies.

The group manages terminal complexes in Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk, Tomsk and Vladivostok. It oversees a container fleet of more than 180,000 TEUs and nearly 15,000 flatcars. Its fleet includes over 30 vessels which primarily operate on its own shipping lines. In November 2023, a 92.5% controlling stake in DVMP was transferred to Rosatom by presidential decree.