According to an announcement by liner shipping company Delta Shipping Lines, two feeder ships of the Sietas 151 type will be servicing the HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA), the HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB) and the Eurogate Container Terminal Hamburg (CTH) at the Port of Hamburg on a weekly basis. At the Port of St. Petersburg, the service will call at the terminals of PetroLesPort (PLP) and Neva Metal Terminal (NMT).
The first sailing of the vessel VICTORIA from Hamburg took place on 4 February 2010. After the arrival of the sister ship CARTAGENA, the next departure from Hamburg to St. Petersburg was on 10 February 2010. Chartered by Foroohari Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG, of Stade, the ships are 100 meters long and 18.2 meters wide. They can carry 510 TEU (20-foot standard containers) and are fitted with 50 to 60 reefer plugs. With a deadweight tonnage of 5,350 tons, a maximum draught of 6.6 metres, the vessels have a service speed of 15.5 knots.
Thanks to its favourable geographical location and its outstanding infrastructure, the Port of Hamburg acts as a hub for traffic between overseas destinations and the Baltic Region. Russia is ranked third among the most important trading partner for the Port of Hamburg in terms of cargo transhipments carried by sea. Sea-borne container traffic with Russia amounted to more than 329,000 TEU in the year 2009. There are about two dozen departures each week linking Hamburg with ports in Russia. This means that the port on the river Elbe has the most densely structured network of feeder services in the Baltic Region.
Delta Shipping Lines offers short-sea and scheduled feeder services, catering mainly on transports to and from Russia. In Hamburg, the company is represented by Delta Shipping Agency GmbH. Delta Shipping Lines currently operates five 1A-class ice-strengthened ships with carrying capacities ranging from 500 to 1,000 TEU, allowing the company to achieve short transit times as well as permitting the use of a wide range of transport equipment.
