NEW DELHI, August 23: The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd (SCI) under the aegis of the union Ministry of Shipping in association with the Maldives Government is expected to open a direct service linking two Indian cities Tuticorin and Kochi with Male in the third week of September. The service is, anticipated to reinforce bilateral trade and economic relations between both the countries, an official spokesman of the shipping ministry said.
The direct shipping service is going to be flagged from India and deployed as a container cum break-bulk vessel and can hold about 200 twenty-foot equivalents (TEU) units along-side 3000 tonnes of break-bulk cargo and will make a round trip in 10 days.
The vessel likely to hold commodities like electrical machinery and equipment, white goods like Televisions, Home Appliances, etc., pharmaceuticals, medicines, Iron & Steel, construction material, sand, clothes, fabrics & textiles, toilet fittings, furniture in addition to perishable goods like fruits and vegetables, eggs, food grains etc.
The prime minister Narendra Modi during a visit to Maldives shortly after his second searing-in in June last year had discussed with the Maldives president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih a desire to enhance the connectivity between India and Maldives and establish necessary infrastructure to give impetus to bilateral trade between the two countries.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed to start an immediate passenger-cum-cargo ferry service between the two countries to provide an alternate, direct and less expensive means of transport for passengers and goods and to advance economic, social and cultural ties between the two countries.
The SCI in a press statement said the direct cargo shipping service was expected to offer momentum to bilateral trade and economic relations and further strengthen the dynamic people-to-people contacts between the two countries.
(Venkatesh Iyer)