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Two new shipping lines from Hamad Port

Published: 09 Sep 2017 - 04:12 am | Last Updated: 28 Dec 2021 - 11:39 am
Peninsula

Irfan Bukhari | The Peninsula

Two new maritime lines are being launched from Hamad Port on September 17 which will enhance Qatar’s trade connections with various ports in China, India, Malaysia, Turkey and Greece, among other countries.
Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) announced yesterday that two shipping companies, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Yang Ming, would open the new lines from September 17, 2017.
MSC will launch a new line in Mediterranean Sea with four  ships, each with a capacity of 6,000 containers including 400 reefer containers. This new service will be weekly and run through ports of Mersin, Istanbul, Tekridag, Canakkale and Iskenderun in Turkey, Piraeus in Greece, Mundara in India, Sohar and Salalah in Oman and Hamad Port in Qatar.
Mwani Qatar has also announced on its social media pages that another shipping company Yang Ming will start a weekly service with one ship of 6,000 containers including 400 reefer containers capacity.
It will connect Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen and Shekou in China, Kaohsiung in Taiwan, Port Klang in Malaysia and Hamad Port in Qatar.
MSC is the world’s second-largest shipping line in terms of container vessel capacity. As of the end of December 2014, MSC was operating 471 container vessels with an intake capacity of 2,435,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). The Geneva-headquartered company operates in all major ports of the world.
MSC had inaugurated its maiden voyage between Hamad Port and Salalah Port in June this year and MSC KERRY was the first vessel that called the Hamad Port.
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation is an ocean shipping company based in Keelung, Taiwan (ROC). Yang Ming currently operates 84 container ships up to 8,250 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) and 17 bulk carriers.
Yang Ming’s service scope covers over 70 nations with more than 170 service points. Mwani Qatar in cooperation with its partners has launched a number of new direct shipping lines between Hamad Port and various ports of the region and beyond in the last three months.
The new routes, launched after imposition of blockade by three Gulf countries, have connected Hamad Port to Sohar and Salalah ports in Oman, Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait, Karachi Port in Pakistan, Izmir Port in Turkey, Mundra and Nava Shiva Ports in India.  Within a week of three Gulf countries imposing a blockade on Qatar, Mwani Qatar launched a new direct service between Hamad Port and Sohar Port in Oman under Milaha’s DMJ service — three times a week. On June 23, another new line linking Hamad Port directly to Salalah Port was launched.
Mwani Qatar had announced launching a new maritime line between Qatar and India named “India Qatar Express Service” (IQX) on June 14. Last month, Kuwait Qatar Express Service started between Hamad Port and Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait using a 515 TEU vessel.
On August 27, Milaha announced the launch of a direct service between Pakistan and Qatar. The new service, called PQX (Pakistan Qatar Express Service), is operating weekly between the Port of Karachi, Pakistan and Hamad Port, Qatar with a competitive transit time of 4 days, making it the fastest direct connection between the two countries.