A new container cargo line has been established and launched, connecting four leading European ports on the route Riga (Latvia) – Hull (Great Britain) - Rotterdam (Netherlands) - Helsinki (Finland). Container transportation through the Port of Riga is provided by the Samskip Multimodal B.V., a container ship line managed by the Dutch company Samskip. Transportation is provided by two medium-sized container ships - BF Cartagena and Dornbusch, which are scheduled to call the port of Riga once a week.
“We are pleased to launch the new container transportation service, which will connect the Port of Riga with the ports of Hull and Rotterdam, and we believe that it is a very significant event. The commencement of regular container transhipment via the Port of Riga confirms Samskip's trust in its clients. We are working hard to identify our clients' needs and doing our best to meet them. In this particular case, in cooperation with our clients we have identified the need for a fast container shipment from Riga to the UK that would provide reliable service and a high level of customer care,” said Johan van der Pijl, Regional Director - Baltic Sea at Samskip.
Samskip container line ships are accommodated at the berths of SIA “Rīgas Centrālais Termināls” (RCT). The RCT is part of the JSC “Riga Port” group and is one of the three terminals of the Port of Riga, where containers are handled and containerized cargo is processed. During 2023, the RCT has managed to increase the handled containerized cargo volume more than 2 times and containers have become one of the largest segments of cargo handled at the RCT, accounting for almost 50% of the terminal's cargo portfolio.
The Port of Riga is the only port in Latvia through which container traffic is being provided by regular lines. Currently, vessels of six regular container lines - CMA CGM, Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Sea Consortium Pte. Ltd Trading, Unifeeder and Samskip Multimodal B.V. - are scheduled to call the port.
As previously reported, last year the container segment of the Port of Riga reached a new record – for the first time in the port’s history, more than 5 million tons of containerized cargo (465.4 thousand TEUs) were transhipped. Compared to the previous year, the volume of containerized cargo has increased by 9.8%. Also, for the first time in the history of the Port of Riga, container cargo has become the largest cargo group and accounted for 27% of the port's total cargo portfolio.
Article republished from: https://rop.lv/en/news/new-container-cargo-line-riga-hull-rotterdam-helsinki-has-been-launched