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Cargo ferry services between Maldives and India has been officially launched.
Minister of State for Shipping (Independent Charge) of India, Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya, and Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation of the Maldives, Aishath Nahula jointly launched the maiden voyage of the service during a virtual ceremony on Monday.
The cargo ferry vessel, also called, MCP Linz, is operated by the Shipping Corporation of India and is directed to connect Tuticorin and Cochin ports of India with Kulhudhuffushi City and Male’ City of Maldives.
MCP Linz is expected to dock at Kulhudhuffushi harbor on September 26. The same vessel is estimated to arrive at the Maldives capital on September 28.
The vessel is accommodated to carry 380 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) and 3,000 metric tons of cargo with a turnaround time of 10-12 days. The vessel connects cargo activities of two countries directly on a predictable and affordable manner and is expected to lower the costs and expenses of traders of Maldives and India.
During Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s visit in 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between India’s shipping ministry and the transport ministry of Maldives.
After a thorough preliminary study undertaken by a team from SCI in July 2019, and a subsequent feasibility study run in early 2020, the High Commission of India in the Maldives, made the announcement that the cargo ferry services between India and Maldives to be launched in September.
https://twitter.com/HCIMaldives/status/1307975905705259011?s=20
The cargo ferry services is expected to be a catalyst in upgrading the trade partnership between the two countries and liberate logistics on both ends. The cargo connectivity from India to Kulhudhuffushi port will “underpin the economic development” in the northern region of Maldives and provide investment opportunities in tourism and other relevant fields.
Additionally, the ferry service will also aid Maldivian exporters of tuna and other marine products and provide an opportunity to expand into the vast Indian market and to Europe through the two Indian ports connecting to Maldives. Cochin Port of India alone has a connectivity to Europe through a 6,500 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units vessel.
India and Maldives have been trading for centuries, making the neighbouring nation, the fourth largest trading partner of Maldives.
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