Samskip adding Zeebrugge to Baltic loop, Poland to follow
Samskip is adding a call at the PSA HNN terminal in Belgium’s Port of Zeebrugge to its weekly ScanBalt service, which links the United Kingdom and North Continent with Sweden, Russia and the Baltic states, effective Aug. 17.
The carrier also said it plans to include a call to Poland in September to the service, which currently covers the ports of Hull, Rotterdam, Helsingborg, Klaipeda and Ventspils, using the 800-TEU Samskip Explorer.
The transit time from Zeebrugge to Klaipeda and Ventspils will be five days with Moscow being reached in 10 to 12 days, Samskip said.
In January, Samskip signed an agreement with PSA HNN to develop a short sea intermodal facility in Zeebrugge in which it already operates a weekly service to and from Dublin in Ireland. Samskip said the port, with its barge and rail links, is “perfect” for serving not only Belgium but southern Holland and the northeastern region of France and even more distant markets like Italy.
“We feel that there is a real demand in the market for this service. It should enable many companies to make their supply chains more effective whilst simultaneously rendering them more environmentally and CO2 friendly,” said Jens Holger Nielsen, chief executive officer of Samskip Multimodal Container Logistics.
'Using the PSA HNN terminal, we will offer a fast, regular and reliable service out of Zeebrugge into areas of Europe which are growing extremely rapidly.”