Several new liner operators appear to be cashing in on high freight rates between China and Russia.
They have launched services to fill a void left by major operators, which have pulled out to avoid problems with sanctions.
The trade is being populated by Chinese newcomers, including OVP Shipping and Safetrans Line.
These are adding to the services of Russian operators such as Torgmoll/Newnew Shipping, while some established Russian companies continue to pick up vessels from the secondhand market.
According to Linerlytica, the newcomers are adding capacity after congestion at the Far East Russian ports of Vladivostok and Vostochny.
That has generated demand for new services from Asia to the Black Sea and the Baltic ports of Novorossiysk and St Petersburg, which has pushed up freight rates on the trades, Linerlytica said.
MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company is the only big operator to retain a considerable presence in the Russian trades, the analyst noted.
It has feeder operations in all three Russian gateways and accounts for most capacity deployed in the Black Sea and Baltic Sea.
Other leading European carriers have withdrawn completely from the market.
OVP Shipping has emerged as the most ambitious of the newcomers to the China-Russia trade, according to Alphaliner.
The Shanghai-based company started its first liner service between China and Vladivostok in June 2022 and moved into the Black Sea five months later with the launch of a China-Novorossiysk service.
That has been built up into an operation served with three ships of around 1,500 teu.
The Hong Kong-registered company has since launched another service between China and St Petersburg, deploying the 3,081-teu Stonewell Glory (built 2005), 1,878-teu Allseas Pioneer (built 2003) and 3,469-teu Heng Hui 2 (built 1993).
It plans to upgrade the service to a fortnightly and later a weekly service in April.
Another Chinese newcomer, Safetrans Line, has launched a direct service between St Petersburg and China.
The company, which is owned by Worldwide Logistics, in which Alibaba has a minority stake, also intends to operate a weekly service, Linerlytica said.
Dubai-based Reel Shipping has launched a service to take advantage of the high demand for Russian imports from Asia via transshipment at Damietta in Egypt.
The service started in January and deploys five ships of 1,730 teu to 2,700 teu.
Meanwhile, established Russian operators continue to acquire ships from the secondhand market.
Far Eastern Shipping Co (Fesco) has taken delivery of the 2,471-teu Kapitan Shchetinina (built 2023) from Zhoushan Changhong International Shipyard.
The company said the ship was a resale from China’s Goto Shipping, also known as Starocean Marine.
According to Alphaliner, the vessel left the shipyard on 25 February and has joined Fesco’s China Express Service 1, which connects China with Vladivostok.
The ship is the third vessel acquired by Fesco in recent months from Chinese owners.
Towards the end of last year, it bought the 704-teu Acacia Ming (built 2010) and 698-teu JRS Corvus (built 2008) for $10m and $8m, respectively, according to VesselsValue.
A Vladivostok-based maritime and multimodal transport company called Crystal Alliance has emerged as the owner of the 1,740-teu Crystal St Petersburg (built 2000).
The former MTT Pasir Gudang was reported sold by Malaysian operator MTT Shipping last November for $10m.
