More ships dock at Hamad Port

The first of the two vessels operating the new India Qatar Express Service (IQX) has docked at Doha's Hamad Port.

The vessel, Hansa Magdeburg, had sailed from Nhava Sheva port in India, Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) said in a statement on Twitter on Friday.Mwani Qatar also announced that another ship, Paul Abrao, had arrived at Hamad Port from Salalah in Oman.The new IQX service connects Hamad Port with the Mundra and Nhava Sheva ports in India. The Ministry of Transport and Communications had recently said the vessels using the new line would reach Hamad Port every Friday and the first shipment would have 710 containers with the “readiness to receive larger shipments as needed”.

Container Ship Paul AbraoFurther, the MoTC had said the new shipping line would involve weekly sailing, provide a direct express connection between Mundra, Nhava Sheva and Doha (Hamad Port) for local cargo and handle ICD (inland container depot) cargo via Mundra or Nhava Sheva. The IQX service will also accept coastal cargo from ports on the western and eastern coasts of India for transshipment at Mundra. Besides, it will accept transshipment cargo from Southeast Asia and the Fareast via Mundra.The service includes two vessels – Hansa Magdeburg and Hansa Duburg.Gulf Times had also recently reported, citing an official Qatar News Agency article, about the launch of two new shipping lines between Hamad Port and Sohar and Salalah ports in Oman. The two lines would greatly enhance the import of food commodities, officials had stressed.Meanwhile, the first Turkish ship carrying some 4,000 tonnes of dry food supplies, fruits and vegetables set off from a port in western Turkey's Izmir province on Thursday. The ship was expected to arrive in Doha in around 10 days.More global liners are reportedly keen to call on Hamad Port, looking to utilise its infrastructural facilities, according to sources.