Led by Cosco Shipping and rail freight partner Ocean Rail Logistics, the service consists of the regular maritime Piraeus-Rijeka Express Service (PRS), exclusively connecting Rijeka and Piraeus, and with it aligned rail connections: block trains on Rijeka-Budapest-Rijeka, and Rijeka-Belgrade-Rijeka route.

By interconnecting maritime and rail services using the Rijeka Land Sea Express, Cosco offers its clients transit time of 32 days from East China and 28 days from South China to Budapest, using Piraeus and Rijeka as ports.

AGCT chief executive Emmanuel Papagiannaki welcomed this latest development, expected to further improve Rijeka's position as the Northern Adriatic Gateway for Central and Southeast Europe.

The Land Sea express project has strengthened Cosco's position in the existing market, as well as opened new ones: 65 block trains were transported to and from Hungary since March 2019; 10 to and from Slovakia; and 10 to and from Czechia. Overall, Cosco throughput via Rijeka increased by 30 per cent since the start of the project.

ICTSI recently drew up plans to expand its Croatian subsidiary, including a two-phase dredging scheme of 130 metres of quay over its Berths 1 and 2. Once completed, AGCT will be the first terminal in the northern Adriatic able to be able to berth vessels of up to 20,000 TEU capacity, with a length overall (LOA) of up to 400 metres and beam of 59 metres.

Complementing these initiatives are new quay cranes with an outreach of 24 rows, as part of the berth upgrade; and new rubber tyred gantries and prime movers introduced on the landside.

Work is also being advanced on upgrading AGCT's on-dock rail terminal to offer an annual capacity of 360,000 TEU per year. The upgraded rail yard will feature two new rail mounted gantries over four rail lines.

Total terminal yard capacity is expected to be increased up to 600,000 TEU per year, in line with demand.

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