Mediterranean Shipping Co. plans to expand its IPAK Service between India and Europe by adding a call at King Abdullah Port, Saudi Arabia’s new gateway hub.
Starting in early November, the revised IPAK rotation will be as follows: Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Antwerp, Belgium; Felixstowe, England; King Abdullah; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Salalah, Oman; Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru) and Mundra, India; Jeddah; Gioia Tauro and Valencia, Italy; and back to Rotterdam. The first vessel to call the new Red Sea port will be the MSC Antigua, voyage IP342A, arriving Nov. 2.
MSC operates the fixed-day weekly service in conjunction with Chilean container carrier CSAV. The IPAK deploys seven vessels of 6,500 20-foot-equivalent units, with MSC providing five vessels and CSAV providing two ships.
King Abdullah Port, about 62 miles north of Jeddah, is part of the King Abdullah Economic City. MSC’s container terminal arm, Terminal Investment, is a partner in the project development being handled by Ports Development Co., a joint venture between Saudi Binladin Group and Emaar. The container terminal offers a 700 meter (about 2,300 foot) quay with an estimated throughput capacity of 1.3 million TEUs. When completed, the new facility will have a total berth length of 1.4 kilometers (about 0.9 mile) and an annual designed capacity of 2.7 million TEUs.
The Journal of Commerce
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