USA: ACL Announces New Weekly RO-RO Service

Atlantic Container Line commences a new, weekly RORO service from the North America to Russia and Finland. It is the fastest and most frequent service available in the market.

The service begins February 2012, using ACL’s transatlantic vessels and Finnlines’ ice-class Baltic vessels. The Grimaldi Group owns both companies. ACL has fixed day-of-the-week calls at New York-Tuesdays, Baltimore-Thursdays, Norfolk-Fridays and Halifax-Mondays. The ACL vessels arrive each Thursday at Antwerp (PSA Terminal, Quay 869). The Finnlines vessels call at ACL’s terminal every Saturday and sail directly to Helsinki, Kotka and St. Petersburg. Cargo moves under a single ACL through bill of lading all the way through to St. Petersburg, Kotka and Helsinki.

Andrew J. Abbott, ACL’s President & CEO: “Our customers have been asking us for a better Baltic Sea connection for quite some time. This new service gives ACL another niche where we can do something better than anybody else. Finnlines is our sister company so we will have complete control of the cargo all the way to its Baltic destination. Our transit times, frequency, reliability and customer service are the best available.”

ACL offers worldwide through bills of lading for vehicles, projects and uncontainerized cargo worldwide. The ACL RORO staff in North America averages 20 years of experience in handling oversized cargo. Finnlines has been operating in the Baltic since 1947 and has extensive experience working in Russia and Finland. All processing and tracking of shipments are performed via ACL’s computer system. Deliveries are coordinated through the Finnlines offices, ACL’s agents.

The ACL vessels have an extensive fleet of RORO equipment: mafi trailers and special project trailers. All vehicles, trailers and oversized cargo are parked securely in under deck garages, allowing protection for large cargo dimensions. Most Finnlines vessels were built in 2011, with more launching this year.

Since 1967, ACL has been a specialized transatlantic carrier of containers, project and oversized cargo, heavy equipment and vehicles with the world’s largest combination RORO/Containerships. Its parent company, Grimaldi Lines, offers direct RORO/Container service between North America and West Africa. ACL also offers through service for non-containerized cargo to the Mediterranean, Middle East, South Africa, Australia and Far East. ACL and Finnlines are subsidiaries of the Grimaldi Group of Naples, Italy.

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World Maritime News Staff, February 9, 2012; Image: ACL