This week, DP World London Gateway welcomed the first ship, the Al Rawdah, in a new South East India-Europe Express (IEX) service.
The IEX is the only shipping service that links the East Coast of India to the UK, opening up new trading opportunities for shippers in both countries.
The new service brings the number of direct services between the Indian sub-continent and London Gateway to three per week, more than to any other port in the UK.
Previously the only option for cargo owners was to transship in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with containers offloaded and placed in storage, before being reloaded onto ships for the journey to the UK.
The direct service will reportedly serve to increase the security of the cargo and help to preserve the integrity of the supply chain.
DP World’s head of UK ports, James Leeson, commented: “This is a strong endorsement of DP World London Gateway as a major global trading hub on key trade routes. It further underlines the tremendous opportunity we provide for our customers to realise game-changing value and accelerate their cargo deployments. Our proximity to one of the largest consumer markets in Europe helps reduce costs and carbon emissions.”
The new service, a collaboration between COSCO, Hapag Lloyd, Yang Ming, ONE and OOCL, operates nine 6,500 TEU vessels on a weekly fixed rotation calling at the following ports: Vizag – Krishnapatnam – Chennai – Tuticorin – Colombo – Cochin – Damietta – Piraeus – Rotterdam – London Gateway – Hamburg – Antwerp – Le Havre – Damietta – Jeddah – Colombo – Vizag.
