New shipping service links India with Gulf ports

DP World’s Cochin terminal has a new direct service to Gulf markets that stays clear of Hormuz. The new MGR IFR service out of DP World’s International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) in Cochin runs every two weeks to Nhava Sheva, Fujairah, Sohar, and Aden. It uses two vessels, the Marsa Virgo and the Marsa Zenith, each rated above 500 TEU, and the first Cochin call handled more than 1k TEU, Al Bayan reports.

Both Gulf stops sit outside the strait: Fujairah and Sohar are on the Gulf of Oman, so shippers routing around Hormuz now have another direct option. For DP World, the Fujairah call feeds its east-coast buildout. The company locked in a 50-year concession in July for the Al Rugaylat and Dibba terminals, and Al Rugaylat alone is rated for up to 2.5 mn TEU a year.

IN NUMBERS- The terminal handled around 381k TEUs between April and August, up 18.5% y-o-y, while August throughput jumped 51% to a record 98k TEUs.