SCI starts new service to West Asia

MUMBAI : Shipping Corporation of India Ltd (SCI) has started a new container shipping service linking India with West Asian ports such as Jebel Ali and Hamad.

The service will connect Kandla – Mundra – Cochin – Tuticorin – Nhava Sheva – Jebel Ali and Hamad, the company said.

The new service will be run using a single vessel, the 4,469 twenty-foot equivalent unit (teu) capacity ‘SCI Chennai’ owned by the state-run company.

The ship was earlier deployed on coastal service connecting various Indian ports. Dubai is a big trading partner of India with as many as 8,000 TEUs being shipped there every week.

The service seeks to tap into the business ties between the two nations in the backdrop of rising freight rates for container shipping globally, combined with capacity and equipment shortages.