International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) said its Poland operation under Baltic Container Terminal (BCT) at the Port of Gdynia in Poland has received the first direct call of Mediterranean Shipping Company’s (MSC) SWAN service last month.
The service links ports in Europe and the Far East, and has provided the Port of Gdynia a direct connection to the most important Chinese and Korean ports.
“The recently revised port rotation is Qingdao-Busan-Ningbo-Yantian-Tanjung Pelepas-Antwerp-Gdynia-Gdansk-Klaipeda-Bremerhaven-King Abdullah Port- Singapore-Qingdao.
The addition of Busan to this rotation enables a direct connection between the port of Gdynia and South Korea,” ICTSI said.
MSC restored the route in May.
The SWAN service’s maiden call to BCT was marked by the arrival of the 318-meter boxship KURE, which discharged 1,320 containers and will take almost 2,000 containers on the return journey.
The MSC DOMNA X, another ship operating the SWAN service and sailing directly from the Far East, called on BCT on August 28.
Wojciech Szymulewicz, BCT chief executive officer, said the port call is a “historic moment” as BCT inaugurates the first ever direct container connection with Chinese and Korean ports.
“This milestone redefines the status of BCT and the entire Port of Gdynia. We are changing its role from the current feeder port to a full-fledged maritime import and export gateway,” he said.
“Further direct calls to Gdynia, in addition to the already existing connections to North America and India, open up new prospects for the development of container transport for customers in Poland and the extension of the intermodal offer to new markets, including Ukraine and other Central European countries,” he added. – Ruelle Castro
