Mediterranean Shipping Company will expand its India-Subcontinent-Europe Service, operated jointly with the Shipping Corporation of India, with a direct call at India’s Port of Pipavav, effective in mid-September.
The new port call is in addition to the existing calls at the ports of Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru) and Mundra, two leading container gateways on the west coast.
The revised ISES rotation is Colombo, Nhava Sheva, Pipavav, Mundra, Salalah, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Antwerp, Jeddah, and back to Colombo.
The expanded weekly service, deploying seven vessels of about 3,500 20-foot equivalent units capacity, offers new options for customers in the country’s northern hinterland region including Delhi, Ludhiana and Jaipur.
The move comes just as the two carriers announced the launch of a direct India-Mediterranean Service with six vessels of similar capacities, starting Aug. 26. The weekly I-Med rotation is Colombo, Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Salalah, Port Said, Istanbul, Barcelona, Genoa, La Spezia, Port Said, Salalah and Colombo.
Pipavav, managed by A.P. Moller-Maersk, is India's first port to be developed through the public-private-partnership model. The west coast hub hosts several fixed-day weekly sailings, providing direct connections to key trade lanes of Europe, the U.S. East Coast and the Far East.
In recent months, major ocean carriers covering the trades to and from India have been forced to divert cargo to Mundra and Pipavav amid increasing congestion and operational problems at Nehru.
Hapag-Lloyd on Wednesday said it plans to discharge all inbound cargo arriving on its EPIC between Europe, Pakistan and India; and Indamex Services between India and America at Mundra, citing the temporary closure and uncertainty at the ports of Nhava Sheva and Mumbai. “All additional costs with respect to onward movement of such cargo are to be for the account of cargo owners,” the company said.
The new port call is in addition to the existing calls at the ports of Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru) and Mundra, two leading container gateways on the west coast.
The revised ISES rotation is Colombo, Nhava Sheva, Pipavav, Mundra, Salalah, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Antwerp, Jeddah, and back to Colombo.
The expanded weekly service, deploying seven vessels of about 3,500 20-foot equivalent units capacity, offers new options for customers in the country’s northern hinterland region including Delhi, Ludhiana and Jaipur.
The move comes just as the two carriers announced the launch of a direct India-Mediterranean Service with six vessels of similar capacities, starting Aug. 26. The weekly I-Med rotation is Colombo, Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Salalah, Port Said, Istanbul, Barcelona, Genoa, La Spezia, Port Said, Salalah and Colombo.
Pipavav, managed by A.P. Moller-Maersk, is India's first port to be developed through the public-private-partnership model. The west coast hub hosts several fixed-day weekly sailings, providing direct connections to key trade lanes of Europe, the U.S. East Coast and the Far East.
In recent months, major ocean carriers covering the trades to and from India have been forced to divert cargo to Mundra and Pipavav amid increasing congestion and operational problems at Nehru.
Hapag-Lloyd on Wednesday said it plans to discharge all inbound cargo arriving on its EPIC between Europe, Pakistan and India; and Indamex Services between India and America at Mundra, citing the temporary closure and uncertainty at the ports of Nhava Sheva and Mumbai. “All additional costs with respect to onward movement of such cargo are to be for the account of cargo owners,” the company said.