New liner service to connect Jeddah Port to India

Dubai, Sep 08: A leading maritime services company announced on Sunday the launch of a new liner service connecting the Red Sea’s Jeddah Islamic Port to India’s Mundra and Nhava Sheva, two of the largest commercial ports in the country.

Folk Maritime Services Company, a Public Investment Fund and one of the region’s emerging leaders in providing regional liner and feeder services, said the 10-day facility with two vessels will commence in September.

According to a company statement, the services will strengthen trade ties by facilitating the movement of consumer cargo from India and products from Saudi Arabia, including petrochemicals.

“In addition to deploying its vessel, Folk Maritime has also signed a Vessel Sharing Agreement (VSA) with Oman’s Asayd, which will also deploy a vessel for the new route,” the statement revealed.

Announcing the new India Redsea Service (IRS), Poul Hestbaek, Chief Executive Officer of Folk Maritime, said the new route would further “enhance bilateral trade between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and India, and underlines our ambition to become one of the leading maritime service providers in the region”.

“It will also contribute to the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to establish the Kingdom as a global logistics hub by enhancing connectivity and maritime sector growth, Hestbaek said.

The new route represents the growth in ‘friend-sourcing’ between Saudi Arabia and India and builds on the strong bilateral ties between the two countries.

The visit of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, to India in 2019 following the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Kingdom in 2016, has marked a new era in bilateral cooperation, including the establishment of a Strategic Partnership Council co-chaired by the two leaders.

Saleem Kadernani, Chief Commercial Officer of Folk Maritime, said: “The new service is an exciting development for the business community with new and existing customers having more solutions to better meet their requirements. We are excited that we can now offer a sustainable service for our customers and the new route is expected to create more value for them in the near and long term.”

Folk Maritime started its official operations in the Red Sea with two liner services - one that connects the Kingdom’s Jeddah Islamic Port, Neom and Yanbu to the Red Sea ports Sokhna and Aqaba, and a second route offering service between Port Sudan and Jeddah Islamic Port.

The company plans to continue to enhance its fleet through its chartered tonnage and better serve its customers by offering increased coverage to more regional trades and wider access to global markets.