KoPT starts direct container vessel feeder service to Yangon port

The first direct container vessel feeder service between Kolkata Port and Yangon in Myanmar started today with Orient Express Lines,Singapore, commencing the service with a vessel named 'Mare Balticum' that reached the Netaji Subhas Dock with 325 container boxes.

"This direct service introduced at the Kolkata Dock System(KDS) would reduce the cost for shippers through the saving of transhipment cost at the hub port as well as the delays for connecting vessels, which will provide lesser transit time to ensure quick delivery of the cargo to the end-user," said a Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) release. Orient Express is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore based logistics service providerTransworld Group of companies.

As the potential trade volumes between India and Myanmar is expected to increase as result of this feeder service, KoPT claimed that Orient Express Lines could enhance this to a weekly service during April with the deployment of two vessels dedicated for this trade line.

KDS handled 2,78,989 twenty equivalent units (TEUs) for the period from April to February, 2008-09 against 2,73,504 TEUs handled in the same period last year.