News
A new service was launched on Aug. 3, 2011 on the Sea of Japan trade between Niigata, Japan and Zarubino, Russia.
It is fully backed up by Niigata Prefecture and Niigata City of Japan as well as Jilin Province of China.
The three local governments hope the access between Japan and Harbin, Changchun, Yanji and other municipalities in northeastern China, a burgeoning market, will be upgraded when Zarubino functions as a gateway port.
They also want to accelerate freight movement on the route.
In September 2011, Niigata and Jilin began talks, and on July 21, 2011, agreement was reached to kick off a new service in August 2011.
Later, a Japanese operator was selected from among applicants, leading to the recent commencement of the service.
The new service is provided with one 60-TEU-capacity containership, the Teddy Bear, in a port-of-call rotation of Niigata, （Nakhodka）, Zarubino and Niigata.
It will be provided weekly until the end of September 2011 and semimonthly from October 2011.
