The Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) will now have direct connectivity to the east coast of India with the introduction of Orient Express Lines' new direct service plying between Calcutta and PTP.
The service's first sailing will be by the vessel "Marclipper" which will be flagged off on May 4 from Calcutta, arriving PTP five days later followed by the vessel "OEL Excellence" sailing out of PTP to Calcutta on the May 6, PTP said in a statement today. Orient Express will deploy a total of four vessels on the new service named "Straits Bengal". The service will make fixed weekly calls at PTP, arriving every Saturday morning.
The port rotation of the new service will be PTP, Singapore, Port Klang, Calcutta and Haldia before returning to PTP.
PTP chairman Datuk Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman said the new service will enhance the port's regional connectivity as well as provide a faster turnaround time for shippers to send their goods between Johor and the east coast of India.
He said the service provided Indian shippers with more options to deliver their cargo to various destinations around the world as PTP, being a major transshipment port of the region, already has connectivity to most ports worldwide.
Orient Express Lines (Singapore) Pte Ltd's managing director S. Mahesh said the new service is expected to bring benefits to cargo owners from both the east coast of India and Johor as they will now have direct and faster connectivity. Currently, an estimated volume of 30,000 containers originating from Johor is shipped to India, he said.
Sidik said that the connectivity provided by this new service is significant, especially given the recent developments in Malaysia whereby the government under its Ninth Malaysian Plan has identified south-west Johor as the country's new economic growth area.
The new service further enhanced the attractiveness of this new growth area named Iskandar Development Region (IDR) to Indian companies wishing to invest and set up their operating base in the IDR, he added.
The service's first sailing will be by the vessel "Marclipper" which will be flagged off on May 4 from Calcutta, arriving PTP five days later followed by the vessel "OEL Excellence" sailing out of PTP to Calcutta on the May 6, PTP said in a statement today. Orient Express will deploy a total of four vessels on the new service named "Straits Bengal". The service will make fixed weekly calls at PTP, arriving every Saturday morning.
The port rotation of the new service will be PTP, Singapore, Port Klang, Calcutta and Haldia before returning to PTP.
PTP chairman Datuk Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman said the new service will enhance the port's regional connectivity as well as provide a faster turnaround time for shippers to send their goods between Johor and the east coast of India.
He said the service provided Indian shippers with more options to deliver their cargo to various destinations around the world as PTP, being a major transshipment port of the region, already has connectivity to most ports worldwide.
Orient Express Lines (Singapore) Pte Ltd's managing director S. Mahesh said the new service is expected to bring benefits to cargo owners from both the east coast of India and Johor as they will now have direct and faster connectivity. Currently, an estimated volume of 30,000 containers originating from Johor is shipped to India, he said.
Sidik said that the connectivity provided by this new service is significant, especially given the recent developments in Malaysia whereby the government under its Ninth Malaysian Plan has identified south-west Johor as the country's new economic growth area.
The new service further enhanced the attractiveness of this new growth area named Iskandar Development Region (IDR) to Indian companies wishing to invest and set up their operating base in the IDR, he added.