The Shipping Corporation of India has added Pakistan to its global network and will now provide liner and container services from Pakistan to Europe, the Mediterranean, Gulf, and the Far East, according to a media report today.
The Ministry of Ports and Shipping has been informed by the private firm General Maritime Limited about the benefits of the Indian decision, which will improve Pakistan's sea links with the rest of the world, the Dawn newspaper reported.
GML, the agent for handling SCI's business in Pakistan, said in a letter to the ministry that the arrangement between SCI and GML is the result of the revised Pakistan-India Shipping Protocol signed in December 2006.
The protocol superseded an earlier protocol signed in 1975 and created an environment for liberalising maritime business between Pakistan and India.
It focuses on improving shipping services between the two countries on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual benefit.
The advantage of SCI's entry into the Pakistani shipping market will be to generate competition, which will impact freight rates and lower the cost of imports and exports, GML informed the ministry.
It said that SCI also caters to bulk and break-bulk and over-dimensional cargoes across the globe, while SCI's fast connections will reduce transit time significantly and benefit Pakistani exporters and importers.