A tandem with a subsidiary

LOGOPER, a container shipping operator, has put into operation a regular sea line between Russia and South Korea. This export service is based on Panda Express Line (PEL), its subsidiary shipping company registered by Rosmorrechflot. 

LOGOPER's route runs between the Russian port of Nakhodka and the South Korean port of Busan, where cargoes are transshipped to partners' vehicles and go to Shanghai (China). In Russia, vessels call at the Astafiev Terminal (part of the Aqua Resources group of companies).

Konstantin Siparo, a senior researcher at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, notes that the choice of this terminal is justified by the fact that it has a developed infrastructure and specializes in transshipment of containers and bulk cargo. 

"There are four vessel calls per month on the Nakhodka-Pusan route, and PEL sends a total of 11 voyages per month from Far East ports to Korea," said LOGOPER Sales Director Konstantin Kondratov. The company also launches container trains to the port of Nakhodka, where it performs transshipment using the "platform-board" system. At present the operator has sent the first two trains of 272 TEUs (analog of a 20-foot container) along this route.

In mid-May the first two PEL container trains, Provident and Victory, capable of carrying 632 TEUs and 1,048 TEUs respectively, have already departed from Astafiev Terminal. The vessels covered the route from Nakhodka to Busan in two days. The company's service also transports 40-foot containers (FEU) and can handle various types of cargo, including hazardous cargo.

In the future, LOGOPER plans to increase the frequency of shipments both by rail and by sea. At the moment, some companies, mainly in the petrochemical sector and timber industry, are already interested in the service, Konstantin Kondratov noted.

Konstantin Siparo considers the Nakhodka - Busan route controversial, since the relations between South Korea and Russia are tense, while the extensive network of rail and road routes allows delivery of goods in the export-import communication with China bypassing sea transportation, mainly through Kazakhstan. Despite this, the expert notes that the sea route facilitates access to the southeastern regions of China, where most of the country's population lives.

"There are quite a lot of countries there with which you can establish trade relations - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam," concluded Konstantin Siparo.

Alexander Solyanik

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