ASSOCIATED British Ports (ABP) Port of Ipswich has recently secured a new, weekly container line service.Kursiu Linija, a Lithuanian-based liner operator, now operates a fixed-day, weekly service linking the port's West Bank Container Terminal with the Baltic ports of Riga, Klaipeda and Kaliningrad.

ASSOCIATED British Ports (ABP) Port of Ipswich has recently secured a new, weekly container line service.

Kursiu Linija, a Lithuanian-based liner operator, now operates a fixed-day, weekly service linking the port's West Bank Container Terminal with the Baltic ports of Riga, Klaipeda and Kaliningrad.

The company, which also operates from ABP's Port of Immingham, is deploying three fully-containerised vessels for the service … mv Trenden, mv Godewind and mv Polarwind.

Cargoes bound for the Baltic states from Ipswich range from base chemicals to consumer products, while those imported from the Baltics are mainly timber-based products such as furniture, flooring and toys destined for UK retailers.

Robert Smith, port manager at Ipswich, said: "Ipswich is ideally located for access to North Sea shipping lanes and regularly handles trades from throughout Europe. This new liner service is a welcome addition to our existing business and I am pleased that Kursiu Linija has chosen the port as a base from which to expand its European operations."

Martin Dale, commercial manager for Kursiu Linija, commented: "By adding Ipswich to the line's schedule, we aim to double our current capacity during 2002. I look forward to a very busy year ahead for the company and I am sure that our new partnership with the Port of Ipswich will play an important part in this success."