Finnlines - Grimaldi Group

It all began with the TransRussiaExpress or
TRE service, which started life with small
ships and high hopes and is now one of
the company’s most prominent, flagship
operations.
With dedication through hard times
TRE’s story began in February 1997, when Poseidon
Schiffahrt out of lübeck – (now Finnlines
deutschland) and its Russian partner,
St. Petersburg-based baltic Transport Systems
(today Trans-log), began operating two
quarter-ramp ro-ro vessels with a capacity of
950 lm apiece between kiel and St. Petersburg
via Sassnitz–mukran.
The new service between germany and
St. Petersburg was soon serving a booming
Russian market with five chartered ships
and weekly capacity of 4,500 lm. It was not
to last, however. within 18 months of its
launch, TRE was back to two small ro-ros as
the Russian economic crisis hit demand and
the service had to downsize to survive.
over the years that followed, however, the
company’s faith in the market never wavered
and as economic conditions improved, we
were soon investing again in larger tonnage.
In 2001, mS Translubeca became the first ropax
to enter the service, complemented by
two more ro-ros as we looked to consolidate
our market leadership on St. Petersburg.
neW ports, more capacity
As volumes grew, our terminal needs
changed. TRE moved from kiel to lübeck in
2003, and then from lübeck’s Nordlandkai to
the privately owned lehmannkai in search of
more space and greater flexibility.
In 2010, we added ventspils to the service.
This was partly to meet the needs of
truck transport for latvia but as the rail line
to moscow is upgraded, we will also be able
to expand our access to the Russian capital
and beyond.
capacity in the TRE service has risen
steadily along the way. Today, the line is
serviced by the modern Hansa-class ro-pax
ships like mS Transeuropa, with a combined
weekly capacity of 6,400 lm and 248 passengers.
For Finnlines, which serves Zeebrugge,
bilbao, Antwerp, Hull and Immingham in a
weekly service out of St. Petersburg, it is
part of a burgeoning Russia business which
sees six weekly calls into the city of Peter the
great, and more expected this year. meanwhile,
the new bronka ro-ro and container
terminal 40km from St Petersburg will help
...15 years ago
AS volumES gREw,
ouR TERmINAl
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ease the pressure on the city’s facilities and
accommodate further growth when it is completed
in 2015.
extended connections and neW vessels
TRE may have been the pioneer, but Finnlines
and its sister companies in the grimaldi group
are now profiting from its experience further
to expand their presence in the Russian market,
offering connections to the world beyond
the baltic via grimaldi’s far-flung network. So
it was that in February, Atlantic container
line (Acl) announced a new weekly ro-ro
service from the uS and canada via Antwerp
to Finland and Russia, with the cargo travelling
on a single bill of lading.
under the new arrangement, Acl vessels
calling New york, baltimore, Norfolk and
Halifax will connect with Finnlines vessels
through Antwerp to access St. Petersburg,
kotka and Helsinki.
And that is not all. In march, Finnlines
launched a new ro-ro service connecting
the grimaldi-owned and -operated port
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