Maersk has revealed that, on the 21 December 2020, the first refrigerated containers heading from Mersin, Turkey, were dispatched from the port of Novorossiysk enroute to the Selyatino terminal in Moscow.
The containers were moved on a train operated by Ruscon, one of the Russia´s leading container transportation companies, and two days later the containers arrived at Selyatino terminal and were safely delivered to the end-consignees.
This new logistics solution is designed to grow the Russian food market through improved supply chain performance and less handling of perishable fruit, Maersk said.
The new intermodal service will 'transform the refrigerated cold chain from the Middle East and the Mediterranean to Central Russia', representing over 50,000 containers each year.
'In the past, imported containers were either delivered by road or stripped in Novorossiysk and then carried on to inland locations by van trucks,' said Zsolt Katona, managing director Maersk Eastern Europe. 'This was the first time AP Moller-Maersk pioneered end-to-end delivery of fresh fruit from the Eastern Mediterranean to Moscow by rail and in the same containers as they had been discharged in Russian port.'
This new intermodal cold chain solution is enabled by Russian Railways JSC, which provides rail infrastructure and commercial support for the new cold chain corridor.
Reefer specialist Polar Star LTD provides the power supply for containers throughout the rail journey.
“We see steadily growing demand from our customers for fruits and vegetables throughout the year,' said Yulia Krymova, director of the fruit and vegetable department of the Magnet retail chain. 'So, we endeavor to provide the best possible quality of fresh items in our shops across Russia.
'Launch a direct rail product for delivery from port of Novorossiysk to Moscow will substantially enhance availability and freshness of imported fruit on our shelves, especially when offer from local suppliers are limited by seasonal factors,” Krymova added.
'We aim at offering Magnet and all our customers fixed departure/arrival and transit times, fully secure transportation, reefer monitoring goods condition throughout the journey using our RCM (Reefer Container Management) at a competitive and predictable price,' explained Zsolt Katona, managing director Maersk Eastern Europe.
