The combined service, launched in August 2019 in partnership with Modul and Global Ports, saw its first eastbound train dispatched from St. Petersburg on 28 March.

The set - consolidated with shipments that came from the ports of Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, and Gdańsk - carried containers with plywood and chemical products from Global Ports' First Container Terminal in St. Petersburg to the group's Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company operating in the Russian Far East Port of Vostochniy, from which, in turn, the goods headed to a number of Chinese as well as South Korean and Japanese ports (Dalian, Xingang, Qingdao, Shanghai/Ningbo, Busan, and Yokohama).

The next AE19 eastbound shipment will leave St. Petersburg on 8 April. Thereafter, the service will be provided on a fortnightly basis.

"AE19 service provides our customers not only with a faster delivery solution, but also at a lower cost than airfreight. So far, the service has been used for westbound shipments from Asia to Europe only, however as the service has been experiencing a steady growth since the beginning of 2020, it has further enabled shipments in the opposite direction from Europe to Asia as well. The customer demand to develop the Eastbound service, especially within the automotive, technology, chemicals and industrial verticals, has further led to the launch of this service," Kasper Krog, Head of Intercontinental Rail, A.P. Møller - Mærsk, commented.

Photo: Maersk