Ferry ties UK, Estonia

TALLINN – The first and only roll-on roll-off freight service connecting the UK and Estonia is set to be launched early next year.

The freight service, run by the joint venture ArgoMann, will connect Tallinn with Harwich in the UK in February 1999.

The service departs from Harwich and calls at Cuxhaven in Germany, Tallinn in Estonia, Turku in Finland then on to Bremerhaven in Germany and back to Harwich.

ArgoMann says it will offer a fixed weekly schedule, reliability, door to door and quay to quay options and combined transport services for cargoes in transit to or from Russia and CIS markets.

ArgoMann, established in February 1992, is a joint venture between Mann and Sonn, of London, and Argo Reederei Richard Adler and Sohne, Bremen.

Allan Binks, of Mann and Son Holdings, said the company would take delivery of a brand new, state-of-the-art vessel, which would enable it to provide and maintain a high quality service.

Announcing the launch on the day that Estonia began substantive negotiations with the EU, Binks stressed the significance of the contact between Tallinn, the UK and Germany, two important countries of the EU.

He added, "We considered all the alternative ports in the other Baltic states and the other options we had and eventually decided that the right thing for us was to come to Tallinn, mostly because of geographical and financial reasons, but also because we were most impressed with Estonia. It gave us confidence in the future of a service in Estonia."