State-run Shipping Corporation of India plans to start a Mediterranean container liner service as a joint venture with private shipping major MSC, a senior official of the company said.
A formal announcement is expected in the next 7-10 days, the official said.
"SCI plans to form another consortium with our existing partner MSC to start Mediterranean liner service. However, this will be executed after securing the necessary board approval," SCI Chairman and Managing Director S Hajara told PTI here.
In 2009, SCI formed consortium with Mediterranean Shipping Lines (MSC) for 'Indian Subcontinent-Europe Service'.
The allocation for each partner will be on a 50:50 basis of the total space available in this service. The new service expected to start by end of next month, a source close to the development told PTI.
The shipping major decided to strengthen its fleet taking into account a visible pick up in the trade volume in the recent past, Hajara said.
"We have seen a significant pick up in volumes in the recent past, on account of the recovery in the domestic and global markets. The volumes are expected to pick up further in the months ahead," he said.
At present, SCI operates a network of global liner services in consortia with internationally reputed shipping lines from India to the UK continent, far east China, the Middle East and also caters to trades with South Africa, Mediterranean and Black Sea ports.
As the trend is towards containerised services, SCI operates four cellular container services mainly catering to India's EXIM trade in various sectors.
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