Fesco launches deep sea line from Chinese ports to St. Petersburg

MOSCOW. March 17 (Interfax) - Fesco Transportation Group, the flagship of which is the Far Eastern Shipping Company (Fesco) , has launched the Fesco Baltorient Line (FBOL), a direct marine service from Chinese ports to St. Petersburg through the Suez Canal without transhipment in European ports, as part of the development of deep sea foreign trade routes, the Russian company reported.

The service will operate along the route Rizhao-Lianyungang-Shanghai-Ningbo-Yantian-St. Petersburg (Bronka terminal) and back. The trip takes about 35 days and the line runs once a month, with a view to increasing frequency.

Fesco's new container ship Kapitan Shchetinina left the Chinese port of Rizhao for the first voyage on March 17.

The new service will primarily carry consumer goods, and forest, chemical and metal products, Fesco said.

Fesco welcomed the Kapitan Shchetinina into its fleet at the beginning of March. This is the first container ship in a series of six that will join Fesco's fleet by the end of 2023 and operate on the new marine line.

The vessel, built in 2023, is 172 meters long and 32.2 meters wide, has a deadweight of 31,100 tonnes and capacity for 2,471 TEU (20-foot equivalent containers).

Fesco is a major Russian port operator with rail and logistics businesses. The group operates more than 130,000 TEU of containers and a fleet of over 10,000 well cars. Its fleet of 24 vessels operate primarily on the group's own marine lines.