Short sea operator Kursiu Linija has expanded its north European
services by shifting its Belgian operations from Oostende to Zeebrugge. At
the same time Kursiu Linija has begun close co-operation with Belgian
logistics provider ECS to develop services linking France and the Baltic
States/Russia markets.
Martin Dale, marketing director of Kursiu Linija, says, "By switching our
service to Zeebrugge we can improve services for Benelux and north European
customers moving goods to and from the Baltic States, Russia and also the UK
and Ireland.. Zeebrugge is a busy but uncongested port where we can offer
rapid transhipments on a purpose-built vessel which can handle the 45 ft
high-cube pallet wide units our industrial clients want. We will be able to
move higher volumes of these high-cube containers to and from Ireland
through our alliance with C2C. We will also be working closely with ECS to
improve services for French companies moving goods to and from the Baltic
States and Russia. ECS is a door-to-door logistics provider with a large
fleet of the same 45 ft high cube pallet wide reefers, curtain siders and
dry boxes that Kursiu Linja provides, so there is a natural fit which will
benefit all our clients."
By moving to Zeebrugge Kursiu Linija will also be able to lift deep sea
feeder cargo from Zeebrugge to the Baltic, benefiting APL clients. It will
also offer direct services linking Rotterdam and Teesport with Zeebrugge.
Kursiu Linija recently chartered the Expansa, the first vessel to serve the
Baltic/Europe routes with all
high cube container capacity. In addition to
the new vessel, Kursiu Linija has recently taken delivery of 100 new curtain
side 45 ft high cube boxes and 100 high cube pallet wide refrigerated
containers, bringing its fleet of modern containers to over 3,000 units.
Arijus Ramonas, managing director of Kursiu Linija, says, "Strong and
growing demand from companies that see the advantages of using a dedicated
short sea service over the difficulties of long haul road transportation is
driving our expansion. This move to Zeebrugge is one more key step in our
strategy of building secure, quick and reliable links between east and west
Europe."
Lithuania-based Kursiu Linija is an intra-European carrier providing cost
effective door-to-door transportation services between the Baltic States,
Poland, the CIS and the UK and Northern Europe. Its fleet of five vessels
serves Klaipeda, Riga, Kaliningrad, Gdansk, Teesport, Ipswich, Zeebrugge,
Rotterdam, Hamburg and Bremerhaven.