Poland's DCT Gdansk deepwater container terminal is boosting feeder connections with the arrival of Inter Marine Container Lines (IMCL), which provides a weekly link between DCT, Hamburg and Bremerhaven.
Cyprus-based IMCL, which has indicated that it is considering a second weekly service soon, offers a wide range of feeder services covering the North Sea and Baltic trades.
Established in 1996, IMCL is a member of the Lemissoler Group, which acquired Gdynia-based feeder operator Baltic Container Lines and merged it with IMCL last September, and now operates seven ships, each maintaining a weekly service linking Baltic ports to Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Rotterdam.
"IMCL is one of the major players in the Baltic feeder market. Its customer base, together with that of Team Lines, which has been calling at DCT Gdansk for several months, means most of the major deep sea carriers are now able to offer customers in Asia and elsewhere the option of routing their cargo via DCT Gdansk," said its general manager, Fred Kamperman.
"The recent decision by Containerships to switch its traffic to DCT Gdansk has further boosted our volume but we still have ample capacity to handle more traffic and we are currently in discussion with a number of other operators who have recognised the significant potential benefits of channelling their traffic via DCT," Mr Kamperman said.
Now fully operational, DCT Gdansk comprises a 36-hectare container terminal capable of handling 500,000 TEU a year, and a roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) berth adding an extra 160,000 freight units of capacity. The terminal's 650-metre quay is served by three post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes and five rubber-tyre gantry cranes, and offers 16.5 metres depth alongside. The terminal also has road and rail connections linking the facility to major inland distribution centres throughout Poland and its neighbouring countries.
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