DOHA: Short-sea ship operator Qatar Navigation Lines has introduced a dedicated container feeder service between India and the Middle East.
The weekly shuttle service is designed to tap into growing transshipment volumes on the route. It connects Nhava Sheva, India’s biggest container handler, with Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, and Doha, Qatar.
The service is being launched June 4 with the sailing of the Oshairij from Doha on voyage 511. The Oshairij is one of three ships deployed on the route. The first call at JNPT is currently scheduled for June 12, according to a company trade notice.
The port rotation is as follows: Doha, Jebel Ali, Nhava Sheva, Jebel Ali and back to Doha.
QNL said the service would also accept cargo destined for Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah, U.A.E; Sohar, Oman; Shuwaikh, Kuwait, and Bahrain on a transshipment basis via Jebel Ali.
QNL’s new service comes amidst a backdrop of growing short-sea and feeder services connecting India with the Middle East and neighbors like Bangladesh. These services are also increasing India’s domestic port connectivity.
The company said the new feeder service is part of its growth plans, with the intention being to expand operations along India’s east coast as well as inland locations in the northwestern region. “While consolidating its presence in India, QNL also aims to extend its services to the Southeast Asia region.
“Whilst QNL is planning expansion of the dry container fleet, there is also a thrust on expanding the special equipment and reefer fleet simultaneously.”
QNL is part of Doha-based Milaha Group, with a diversified portfolio of maritime activities that include ship agency and port-based logistics services. In the Middle East region, the group also covers ports in Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, and it is looking to extend its coverage to Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Nhava Sheva accounts for roughly 60 percent of total container cargo routed via India’s 12 publicly-owned major ports and around 40 percent of the nation’s overall containerized ocean traffic.
Boosted by its highest-ever annual volume of 4.47 million 20-foot-equvalent units in the fiscal year that ended March 31, India’s largest port has set a throughput target of 5 million TEUs for the current fiscal year, which runs from April 2015 through March 2016.
