FESCO expects its sea line to RSA to become regular by the end of 2023
Port Elizabeth has welcomed the first ship with 1,000 TEU today
FESCO Transportation Group has opened a direct sea line for container transportation to the Republic of South Africa (RSA): on July 27, Port Elizabeth welcomed the first ship, Andrey Severilov, Chairman of the Board of Directors, FESCO, said at Russia–Africa Summit.
“The first vessel with 1,000 TEU of cargo, produced by the largest Russian enterprise for a South African manufacturer of solar panels is being unloaded in Port Elizabeth right now. Thus, today we have actually opened a direct sea container line, a direct sea link with South Africa. So far, for several months, it will operate as a deviation from our main route between the port of St. Petersburg and Shanghai. But the colleagues are already revising the fleet schedule, and I believe we will have a regular route by the end of the year,” Andrey Severilov said.
According to him, one vessel has been allocated for that direction.
Besides, a document on a new line from the port of Damietta (Egypt) to the port of Novorossiysk is expected to be signed at the summit on July 27. “That is a separate line. We see quite a large cargo base for us - about 30 thousand TEU per year. We are mostly focused on refrigerated cargo, but we are going develop,” said FESCO BoD Chairman adding that the African market offers unlimited opportunities for Russian companies.
According to Andrey Severilov, the creation of the Group’s office in Egypt is nearing completion. The company considers this country as a hub, from where goods can be transported to North and Central Africa. Negotiations are also underway with the Maghreb countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia. It is planned to launch services there as a deviation from existing routes so far.
Andrey Severilov emphasized that Russian companies are now fully supplied with containers, but there is a need for vessels, "not only container ships, but also dry cargo ships, grain carriers, mineral carriers, and we are working to this end." It is also necessary to strengthen the technological base in the ports, the speaker said.
FESCO Transportation Group is one of the leading public transportation and logistics companies in Russia with operations in ports, rail, integrated logistics and shipping business. Diversified but integrated asset portfolio enables FESCO to provide door-to-door logistics solutions and control almost all steps of the intermodal transportation value chain. FESCO controls the Commercial Port of Vladivostok, rail operators Transgarant and Dalreftrans, operator of container platforms Russkaya Troyka, dry terminal facilities in Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk and Tomsk. FESCO operates over 150,000 containers and about 10,000 container platforms. FESCO’s fleet numbers 30 vessels deployed primarily on its own sea service lines.
