RTL accepts 1,000th ferry (photo)

The ferry named City of St.Petersburg loaded with 1,558 Nissan automobiles from Newcastle and Amsterdam ports arrived at the terminal of Sea Fishing Port (Saint-Petersburg) on September 26, 2013. As IAA PortNews learnt from RTL, it is the 1,000^th ferry accepted by RTL from December 2006, when the company was the first in Russia to arrange marine delivery of new automobiles to the domestic market.

The number of automobiles accepted over this period totaled almost 700,000 units. 

“We have been handling seagoing ferries for almost 7 years, - Konstantin Skovoroda, Chairman of RTL BoD, told IAA PortNews, - that means we accept some 150 ferries per year. It is notable that it was the period of both market growth and market slump with a protracted crisis. 

The history of RTL is unique as before we commenced handling automobile ferries we never had either stevedoring or ferry business. In other words we arranged the work of Russia’s first specialized terminal in Saint-Petersburg and built our own ro-ro terminal in Ust-Luga starting with a blank slate and focusing primarily on expectations of our customers. It is very nice to know that the milestone ferry bears the name of Saint-Petersburg.”

Russian Transport Lines Co. LTD (RTL, Moscow) was set up in 2004 as a full service logistics company. It specializes in search for optimal logistics solutions as regards import of transport, specialized equipment, components and auto plant equipment. In 2006, the first Russian terminal for acceptance of vehicles was opened in St. Petersburg by RTL under partnership with Sea Fishing Port. In 2011, RTL opened a sea terminal Novaya Gavan in Ust-Luga port. 

In 2012, the Group’s member, Novoshakhtinsky TLT (Rostov region of the Southern Federal District) was acknowledged as the best customs and logistics terminal in Russia. As of today, Russian Transport Lines is a full cycle  international logistic provider of a wide range of services related to different commercial cargoes.

The agent of all vessels accepted by RTL Group’s terminals is Inflot Worldwide Ferry Services Ltd.