Milaha’s first vessel in the direct Qatar-India route has arrived at the Doha Port.
The non-stop service by Milaha’s Maritime and Logistics subsidiary connects Qatar’s Doha port with India’s largest port ‘Nhava Sheva’ (known as Jawaharlal Nehru Port) in Mumbai, Maharashtra, as part of strategy to reduce transit time and costs.
The vessel MS Convent that set sail from Nhava Sheva port was received in Doha port by high-level officials, including Capt Abdulla al-Khanji, CEO of Qatar Ports Management Company; Capt Ahmed Ali, ports adviser to the Qatari Transportation Minister; Dr Mark Betts, executive director of operations at Muntajat; and Yousef al-Faihani, director of Supply Chain at Muntajat.
Milaha’s senior management, including president and CEO Khalifa Ali al-Hetmi, and Michel Deleuran, executive vice-president for Maritime, were also present at the reception.
“The new service is a continuation of Milaha’s longstanding commitment to being a provider of supply chain solutions to its customers, particularly those in the Qatari market,” al-Hetmi said.
Expressing confidence  in the future of the trade between Qatar and India, he said “we are certain that this new service will be a major contributor to this prosperity, which will reflect positively on Qatari and Indian importers and exporters as well as end users on both sides.”
Asserting that Milaha is always looking at opportunities to facilitate and enhance trade in Qatar and the region, he said the company continuously seeks ways to expand service offerings to benefit importers and exporters alike.
The new direct service would not need transshipment in Jebel Ali or elsewhere, thus increasing reliability and reducing transit time and costs, a Milaha spokesman had said earlier.
Moreover, the new service may open up for new perishable commodity segments, which due to previous transit time, were previously not an option, according to him.