The service saves shippers to save time and money as it eliminates the need for shipments to travel much further to gateway ports in northern Europe, such as Hamburg, Rotterdam or Gydnia, to reach key central and eastern European destinations.
Iskandar Zulkarnain, chairman of the FPS Group's executive committee, says that many of the competing forwarders in Asia serve central and eastern Europe through northern European gateways such as Hamburg and Rotterdam, which adds days to the transit time. Many of these companies also levy a high minimum charge per CBM on a shipment.
"Our new service is not only quicker but we have also decided to have a lower minimum charge through Odessa, saving money for the shipper who wants to take advantage of the groupage rate, but is only sending a small consignment," says Zulkarnain. "We might not be the only forwarder offering ex-Hong Kong services through this gateway, but few will offer regular services through it."
FPS Group members, FPS Hong Kong, and FS Mackenzie, are working together to co-ordinate the new Black Sea services:
- FPS Hong Kong will also act as a hub to consolidate shipments from across SE Asia and will then despatch containerised consignments on a Thursday or Friday, as appropriate.
- FS Mackenzie Ukraine will forward consignments throughout the Ukraine and neighbouring countries.
