Fesco is taking back two of three 1,740-teu vessels chartered to Hamburg Sud as part of the sale of three Australia trade services to the German liner group in March 2006.

It will redeploy the 1,740-teu Kapitan Afanasyev and Vladivostok (both built 1998) on a service between South Korea and eastern Russia, according to AXS-Alphaliner. The move allows Fesco to fix out two 1,000-teu ships no longer needed.

Fesco is also getting back four 1,000-teu to 1,200-teu vessels used by Hamburg Sud since early 2006 on its Far East-Australia-New Zealand services.

And the carrier has chartered out the 1,060-teu Fesco Trader (built 1997) to TS Lines for 12 months at $12,700 per day and sistership Fesco Voyager (built 1998) to NYK Line subsidiary TSK for one month at $13,500 per day.

Last month, Fesco also fixed the 1,060-teu Kapitan Biyankin (built 1994) to Dubai-based Orient Shipping Services for up to six months at $19,500 per day. Recently, it also chartered the 1,160-teu Mekhanik Moldovanov (built 1991) to Wan Hai Lines as a replacement for a ship under repair.

Meanwhile, Fesco is opening a new direct line, the FCDL-North, between northern China and Russia on which it will operate the 350-teu Aleksandr Tvardovskiy (built 1974) between Xingang, Vostochny and Vladivostok.

Fesco is also expanding its network between the US East Coast and Russia by buying space on two transatlantic services operated by CMA CGM. Cargo will be transhipped and feedered from the German port of Bremerhaven.

The Russian carrier will take slots between the US East Coast and Bremerhaven on CMA CGM’s Liberty Bridge and Victory Bridge services.

Containers will be transhipped to St Petersburg and Riga, where rail connections will be made to Moscow, Central Russia and Central Asia.

Fesco appears ambitious to cover Russian trade from other areas than its traditional Far East gateways as part of efforts to develop its logistics activities, according to liner analyst AXS-Alphaliner.

Recently, it has taken a majority stake in ESF, a feeder operator offering Baltic services in co-operation with CMA CGM.

By Paul Berrill and Masha Kaminskaya, London and St Petersburg Tradewinds