Samskip has launched rail services linking Mannheim and Rotterdam with Athens and Thessaloniki, and has appointed Carel Ltd as its agent.
Paul Swaak, Samskip’s director of strategic development for multi-modal container logistics, pointed out that with Greece’s major port, Piraeus, in constant turmoil, shippers are looking at other options – including intermodal transport to and from Greece.
“Shipping all-water from Northern Europe to Greece is fraught with problems and trucking becomes more expensive every time there is a rise in the price of a gallon of crude oil,” says Swaak. “Moving cargo in our 45ft palletwide containers by rail now makes a very competitive and environmentally friendly alternative, faster than sea and cheaper than road transport.”
Carel’s managing director, Lefteris Karoulis, said that Greece is completely integrated into Samskip’s multimodal service network, connecting both West and East Europe to the Greek peninsula.
Via Patras, Athens and Thessaloniki, containers will be transferred to/from the frequent rail shuttles connecting to rail terminals in Rotterdam and Mannheim.
From Rotterdam, connections can be made with Samskip’s shortsea services to/from the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, the Baltic States and Russia, while from Mannheim the whole of Central Europe is served. The shuttles run on fixed schedules, resulting in reliable departure and arrival times.
Paul Swaak, Samskip’s director of strategic development for multi-modal container logistics, pointed out that with Greece’s major port, Piraeus, in constant turmoil, shippers are looking at other options – including intermodal transport to and from Greece.
“Shipping all-water from Northern Europe to Greece is fraught with problems and trucking becomes more expensive every time there is a rise in the price of a gallon of crude oil,” says Swaak. “Moving cargo in our 45ft palletwide containers by rail now makes a very competitive and environmentally friendly alternative, faster than sea and cheaper than road transport.”
Carel’s managing director, Lefteris Karoulis, said that Greece is completely integrated into Samskip’s multimodal service network, connecting both West and East Europe to the Greek peninsula.
Via Patras, Athens and Thessaloniki, containers will be transferred to/from the frequent rail shuttles connecting to rail terminals in Rotterdam and Mannheim.
From Rotterdam, connections can be made with Samskip’s shortsea services to/from the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, the Baltic States and Russia, while from Mannheim the whole of Central Europe is served. The shuttles run on fixed schedules, resulting in reliable departure and arrival times.