Turkish carrier ULD Shipping, operating under the UNITED brand, has launched the Russia–East Med Service (REM), a short-sea loop connecting Novorossiysk with Alexandria, Beirut, Mersin, Istanbul (Ambarlı/Mardaş) and İzmit (Yilport Dilovası).
The service runs every three weeks with one vessel, the BFR (IMO 9103386), a geared ship of around 650 TEU, which began operations in August.
According to the company’s schedule, upcoming calls include Alexandria (Old Port) around 23–25 September, Beirut on 26 September, Mersin from 27 to 29 September, Istanbul (Mardaş) on 2–3 October and Novorossiysk on 5–6 October.
The schedule notes that cargo cut-off is at least one day before arrival and that timings remain subject to change. Later cycles list Damietta from mid-October, indicating potential adjustments in the rotation.
The vessel BFR, built in 1995, is 100 meters long and 20 meters wide. It is listed in registries with a nominal capacity of 652 TEU and sometimes appears under the alias “MEDKON ISTANBUL.” Trade reporting rounds its working capacity to about 630 TEU.
ULD Shipping (United Lojistik ve Denizcilik) is a Turkey-based shipping company established in 2023. It operates short-sea container services under the UNITED brand. The firm advertises activity in around ten countries, a fleet capacity of roughly 8,000 TEU, and publishes several regional services including TRS (Turkey–Russia) and REI (Turkey–Russia–Levant).
UNITED is the commercial brand of ULD Shipping, used for marketing its regional container services across the Black Sea and East Mediterranean.
