February 8 - Atlantic Container Line is set to start a new, weekly ro-ro service from the USA and Canada to Russia and Finland and says it will be the fastest and most frequent service available in the market.
The service will begin in this month, using ACL's transatlantic vessels and Finnlines' ice-class Baltic vessels. Both companies are owned by the Grimaldi Group.
ACL operates a fixed day-of-the-week service calling at New York, Baltimore, Norfolk and Halifax, arriving each Thursday at Antwerp. The Finnlines vessels call at ACL's terminal every Saturday and sail directly to Helsinki, Kotka and St. Petersburg. Cargo moves under a single ACL through bill of lading all the way through to St. Petersburg, Kotka and Helsinki.
Andrew J. Abbott, ACL's president & CEO: "Our customers have been asking us for a better Baltic Sea connection for quite some time. Finnlines is our sister company so we will have complete control of the cargo all the way to its Baltic destination."
ACL says that it offers through bills of lading for vehicles, projects and other uncontainerised cargo worldwide and that its ro-ro staff in North America has an average of 20 years of experience in handling oversized cargo.
The line's G-3 ro-ro / containerships have an extensive fleet of ro-ro equipment: Mafi trailers and special project trailers. All vehicles, trailers and oversized cargo are parked securely in underdeck garages, allowing the ultimate protection for cargo with large dimensions.
