MOL to boost frequency of Japan-Russia service with Fesco

MITSUI OSK Lines Ltd (MOL) has announced plans to increase the sailing frequency of the Japan-Russia route, Japan Trans Siberian Line (JTSL), which it jointly operates with the Far Eastern Shipping Company (Fesco), from twice weekly to weekly sailings.

Along with the direct service, the companies plan to launch a new Busan transhipment service to connect Japan and Russia in mid-June and offer Japan-Russia service weekly, a statement from MOL said.

MOL executive officer Junichiro Ikeda said: "Fesco and MOL are the only carriers that operate direct service between Japan and the Russian Far East. Our service has been bi-weekly for a long time. We are taking this opportunity to launch the Busan transhipment service and increase our service frequency to weekly sailings."

Fesco director Dmitriy Maslov said: "Fesco has been operating JTSL in conjunction with MOL since 1972. It is pleasant to recognise that the cooperation with MOL is longer than with any other foreign partner of Fesco. MOL and Fesco are doing their best to continue services connecting Japan and Russia and increase the cargo flow."

The launch of the Busan transhipment service will involve using MOL cargo space between Japan and South Korea (in addition to commercial feeder services) and the Korea-Soviet Direct Line service between South Korea and Russia offered by Fesco. This will cover the existing direct-service schedule (every other week) and allow weekly service on the Japan-Russia route.

The ports of call order in Japan on JTSL will be changed as follows to a fixed-day weekly schedule instead of every other week.

The new service rotation will be: Yokohama (Mon), Nagoya (Tue), Kobe (Wed), Moji (Thu), Toyama (Sat), Vostochny (Mon), Vladivostok (Wed).

The new port rotation is scheduled to begin on July 12, departing from Yokohama.

(Source: www.schednet.com)