MSC block trains: full speed ahead
MSC reports that its recently-launched Asia-to-Europe ocean and rail solution has been well received by its customers (see ITJ Daily from 24 April 2021). Introduced in mid-May, the first shipment of MSC containers was moved via block train from Vostochniy to St. Petersburg in Russia.
MSC has also launched the Taiga service, which combines MSC’s intra-Asia shipping network, its rail service in Russia and its short-sea feeder network in Europe. One single package offers connections from China, Korea and Japan all the way to various locations in North Western Europe.
From Asia, cargo is shipped on MSC’s Golden Horn and Sunrise services to the two container ports of Vostochniy and Vladivostok. The cargo is then transported via MSC block train to St. Petersburg in 13 days and can then be trans-shipped via MSC’s Maroc Express and Baltic Loop 7 services to other locations in the northwest Europe and ports on the northern seabord such as Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam and Le Havre in four to seven days. (ben)