FESCO hasn't altered maritime routes, ships sailing through Red Sea with security measures in place - chairman

MOSCOW. Jan 19 (Interfax) - FESCO transport group has not re-routed vessels operating on shipping lines through the Suez Canal, which are sailing through the Red Sea with security measures in place, Andrei Severilov, chairman of the FESCO board of directors, told reporters.

"FESCO maritime services are operating as usual, there have been no changes to the routes as of today. FESCO ships are sailing through the Red Sea with all the necessary safety requirements for navigation. We observe all these rules to the letter when organizing maritime transportation. The health and lives of our sailors are an absolute priority for FESCO," Severilov said on the sidelines of the "Passenger Logistics Day" forum, part of the "Russia" exhibition.

"We continue to monitor the situation closely," he said.

FESCO launched the FESCO Baltorient Line (FBOL) direct deep-sea shipping service from Chinese ports to St. Petersburg via the Suez Canal in the spring of 2023. It later added stops at the Indian ports of Mundra and Nhava Sheva to this service.

FESCO also organized a maritime service between Novorossiysk and India through the Suez Canal last year.

Fesco transport group is a large Russian port operator with railway and logistics businesses. The group includes the Commercial Port of Vladivostok (VMTP) , intermodal operator FESCO Integrated Transport, refrigerated container operator Dalreftrans, as well as Transgarant and FESCO Trans. FESCO operates terminals in Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk, Tomsk and Vladivostok. The company manages a container fleet of over 170,000 TEU and over 11,000 flat cars. The group's fleet includes 37 vessels, which operate primarily on the company's own shipping lines.