Finland firm aims to launch Latvia/Moscow block train service

Finland firm aims to launch Latvia/Moscow block train service Finland’s door-to door container operator Containerships Ltd. will next month launch a weekly block train service carrying 45-foot containers of up to 22 tons payload between Liepaja in Latvia and the Russian capital city Moscow.
   The Helsinki-based company is targeting industrial and retail customers who normally move the 45-foot pallet-wide high-cube containers by road and has plans to upgrade the service to four times weekly by the end of 2008.
   The first train will depart from Liepaja on Sept. 22, arriving in Moscow two days later without stopping at the Latvia/Russia border. The trains will link with Containerships’ North Europe short-sea services linking Liepaja to Teesport, Tilbury, Helsinki, Rotterdam and Hamburg.
   “It not only is an environmentally friendly solution to the growing problem of border congestion, but also allows both Latvia and Russia to gain revenue from overland freight that so far has needed investment in road and border control points,” said Sigurjon Markusson, Containerships’ managing director.
   “This rail service will give shippers a reliable route right to the heart of the booming Russian economy,” he added.
   Containerships, 65 percent owned by Icelandic firm Eimskip, was recently linked as a takeover target of Russia’s FESCO Group, something the company strongly denied.