Kazakhstan Railways and Nurminen Logistics start new trans-Caspian Sea service

Constanta, Romania (Ports Europe) May 24, 2022 - KTZ Express JSC and the Finnish operator Nurminen Logistics Services OY have started a new trans-Caspian Seamultimodal transport service between China and Finland. It follows the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor. The new service left Tuanjiecun (Chunqing Province, China) on May 10 for Kouvola, Finland, a journey of 9,000 km. The multimodal route passes through APM Terminals Poti (Georgia), and from there through the feeder service directly to the port of Constanța in Romania. It has a transit time of 20 of days. It passes through Vhina, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Finland. “Opening the route required strong confidence from China Railways in our operations and, above all, our customers’ trust in us. In addition, Nurminen’s international railway team also showed excellent expertise and implementation in a difficult and fast-paced situation,” says Olli Pohjanvirta, CEO of Nurminen Logistics. KTZ Express JSC is a subsidiary of Kazakhstan Railways. Project participants note that this new service on the Trans-Caspian route will increase the volume of traffic along the China-Finland-China route in transit through Kazakhstan. Earlier, the railway administrations of the two countries signed a Memorandum of Cooperation, based on which the parties agreed on the development of bilateral container transport. Amid sanctions against Russia, shippers are beginning to test alternatives to China-Europe rail freight routes, mostly through intermodal transport to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Turkey, the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. TITR The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) combines the countries participating in the new Silk Road project and important players of the region. Its members are leading maritime and transport companies from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, China and Turkey. The organisation aims to popularise the middle corridor, accelerate and simplify cargo transportation procedures between Asia and Europe, and make special preferential tariffs. Between East and West, in terms of cargo, the middle corridor helps to compete with the north-south routes. TITR allows European companies to bypass Russia, which until now sanctions the transit of certain types of goods through the country. A number of Russian entities are under sanctions from the international community following Russia’s annexation of the Crimea in 2014. On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine. U.S. and EU sanctions practically closed Russian ports for international cargo and ships. The war also closed all Ukrainian ports in the Caspian and Azov Seas. Traders are redirecting cargo and seeking new routes to market for cargo which previously used these ports. Often, this is to avoid Russian territory. More Ports Europe news about the Ukrainian crisis More Ports Europe news about transport corridors Copyright (C) Ports Europe. All Rights Reserved. 2022.

Kazakhstan Railways and Nurminen Logistics start new trans-Caspian Sea service

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Kazakhstan Railways and Nurminen Logistics start new trans-Caspian Sea service

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