HMM ups its Russia game

Seoul: Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) this week began its dedicated feeder service linking major North European ports and St. Petersburg, the gateway to Russia. The South Korean operator used to rely on common feeder services.

But it has decided to meet the growing cargo traffic to Russia by opening the new service under its alliance with Team Lines, one of Europe's leading feeder container operators. The service consists of two weekly loop runs. Transit times (T/T) from Japanese ports to St. Petersburg are 35-39 days. Along with the inauguration of its own business base in St. Petersburg, the launch of the dedicated feeder service is in line with HMM's strategy to expand its presence in the rapidly growing Russian market. Each of the two loops connects St. Petersburg to Rotterdam, Hamburg and Bremerhaven on a weekly rotation basis. HMM set up its own business base in St. Petersburg in January 2008 in a joint venture with leading Russian logistics service provider DELO Group. As the growth of the Asia-Europe trade decelerates, the Korean operator has been stepping up its business activities in the fast growing Russian market.
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