Inauguration ceremony organised by COSCO Shipping Lines (COSCO) was held Last October 21st, 2019 at Adriatic Gate Container Terminal to mark successful launch of “Rijeka Land Sea Express”, the new vessel and intermodal service from Rijeka to the Central European Countries.
The service is organised by the largest Chinese container shipping line COSCO and Ocean Rail Logistics, COSCO’s subsidiary in charge of rail transportation. This service consists of regular weekly maritime Piraeus - Rijeka Express Service (PRS), exclusively connecting Rijeka and Piraeus, and with it aligned rail connections: block trains on Rijeka – Budapest – Rijeka and Rijeka – Belgrade– Rijeka route.
By interconnecting maritime and rail services under the Rijeka Land Sea Express, COSCO offers its clients transit time of 32 days from East China and 28 days from South China to Budapest, using Piraeus and Rijeka as ports.
The ceremony was attended by representatives of: COSCO headquarters in Shanghai and Hamburg as well as regional and offices in Italy (Genova), Greece (Piraeus), Ocean Rail Logistics (COSCO’s system in charge of rail transport), Adriatic Gate Container Terminal, service providers in Rijeka port and Rijeka traffic route and other project partners and guests.
Croatian Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković, President of COSCO Shipping Lines for Europe Sun Jun and Port of Rijeka Authority Executive director, Denis Vukorepa also attended and opened the Ceremony.
The project started in March this year, with the joint efforts of the following companies: COSCO Shipping line from China and Europe, Dragon Maritime, PEARL, Ocean Rail Logistics, Express, HZ Cargo, Rail Cargo Operator – Hungaria, BILK, Transagent and Adriatic Gate Container Terminal, and has been fully functional since July 2019. The number of the Companies involved alone shows the complexity of the project.
“We would like to extend our gratitude for their cooperation and professionalism to all the stakeholders involved in the start-up as well continuous support of this project which has strongly positioned Rijeka port and traffic route as the South entrance for Far East to Central Europe trade” – said Emmanuel Papagiannakis, AGCT CEO
With the launch of Rijeka Land Sea Express project, which interconnects maritime and rail transportation COSCO offers its clients full logistic solutions from China to European market, and by selecting Rijeka proves that they recognise the importance that Rijeka has as the North Adriatic Gateway for Central and SE Europe.