SHIPPING TO RUSSIA AND THE CIS: FARRELL LINES' EXPERIENCE By James Madden, Farell Lines, Inc.

Farrell Lines Incorporated has been providing service into the Eastern Mediterranean for over 70 years and in 1993 began its expansion in the Black Sea to service the Transcaucasian Republics of the C.I.S. Since then we have expanded our services to include the Central Asian States, the Ukraine and much of Russia. Farrell established agency networks throughout the area and opened our own office in Tblisi, Georgia in 1995 to manage the C.I.S. logistics.


Ukraine
Shipping within the Ukraine, we use trucks extensively and have not encountered any instances of hijacking or robberies. Although we have found some instances of cargo pilferage, road transport within the Ukraine is generally safe. Container traffic has more than doubled over the past two years, mainly with traffic from the Far East and India/Pakistan. This increased traffic has ccasionally put a strain on the local trucking companies, and many have been quick to seize on one of the least attractive aspects of capitalism by charging whatever the market will bear. We have been able to protect ourselves from precipitous increases by signing long-term agreements with our truckers, but trucking rates are still prone to increases every 3 months or so.


Georgia
To the Georgian border from the Turkish port of Izmir, normal transit time is four days. The border crossing itself, depending on traffic, can take from four hours to two days. We have our own people stationed at the Customs on both sides to smooth the passage of our vehicles, the formalities usually over within a 12 hour period. After the 12 to 14 hours from the border to Tblisi, we collect all of our trucks at a central point and then dispatch directly to Baku which is another 12 to 14 hours away. The weakest link in this transport chain is the Caspian Sea Ferry, which sails daily in both directions. Transit time between Baku and Turkmenbasi is roughly 12 hours. Although service can be disrupted during bad winter weather, we have never experienced a delay in excess of two days for any of our cargoes. One problem is the unofficial payments above tariff needed to insure that our trucks are given space on the ferry.


Turkmenistan
Once in Turkmenbasi, the trucks are again corralled and formed into small convoys for their onward destinations throughout Turkmenistan. The country's roads also are in fairly good condition throughout and there have been no incidents of banditry. In fact, Turkmenistan seems to be the most law-abiding republic in the C.I.S. Most major cities in Turkmenistan can be reached by road within three or four days, the capital Ashgabat being within two days of Turkmenbasi. The overland road routing has proved its reliability over the past 18 months of Farrell's operation and, because we use our own Turkish-based trucks, we are able to quote rates and maintain their stability. I am not suggesting it is cheap, but it is safe, fast and reliable. In closing, the basic rule in shipping to this part of the world is attention to detail, local customs and getting your paperwork in order. Selection of a reliable freight forwarder and carrier is vital and a little patience won't hurt. We at Farrell are greatly optimistic about the future of the C.I.S. The huge potential of its energy and mineral resources is just now beginning to be tapped, and we look forward to sharing with you, the shippers and producers, a partnership in transport to that future.