Hong Kong liner OOCL today debuted a landmark new rail-sea service connecting China to the US east coast.

The Cosco subsidiary’s new offering is a combination of the Chang An China-Europe block train service from Xian to Kaliningrad with onward feeder to Bremerhaven, and then with OOCL ocean services from Bremerhaven to various ports on the US east coast.

The service is the first of its kind to be operated by an ocean carrier, connecting China and North America by using the Asia-Europe Land Bridge and the Atlantic Ocean.

“The intention is to provide reliable and timely shipment by seizing the opportunity to avoid the current high levels of traffic seen on routes to the US West Coast and through the Panama Canal,” OOCL stated in an update today.

The first multimodal container service run by OOCL Logistics and OOCL departed Xian on Wednesday.