China, Estonia, Good for Business, Markets and Companies, Port, Transport

The vessel carrying the timber batch is Kraszewski, which is the largest timber carrying ship that has entered Muuga port, Transiidikeskus said. The first timber batch of that size - 30,000 tons - was sent to China by sea.

Vladimir Popov, chairman of the management board of Transiidikeskus, said that long preliminary negotiations with Chinese partners took place ahead of the despatch of the first cargo vessel to China. "We organized a line of meetings at our terminal. Our partners thoroughly investigated the technical possibilities and experience of our terminal, they had a special interest in our innovative solutions," Popov said.

Based on indicators planned for this year, this project enables to significantly increase the terminal's goods revenue. "Thanks to Westwood Group OU's cooperation with Chinese partners, the annual goods revenue of our general goods terminal should increase by 180,000 tons. This is an important number if we take into account that the total volume of the planned goods revenue for 2017 is approximately one million tons," Popov said.

Loading the vessel started at the end of October. The next ship, also with a timber batch of 30,000 tons, is to head to China at the end of this year. The future plan is to send out ships approximately every two months.

The maximum carrying capacity of Kraszewski is 30,300 tons and the length of the vessel is 200 meters.

Transiidikeskuse AS is a specialized Estonian operator of container and general goods terminals at the port of Muuga.

Owned by Jaak Sarapuu, Westwood Group OU has been operating on the Estonian market since 2012. The cooperation between Transiidikeskuse AS and Westwood Group OU has been going on for five years.