August 20, 2020: During the visit of Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to Maldives in June 2019, the Honorable Prime Minister and the Honorable President of Maldives dwelt on the need to improve the connectivity between India and Maldives through the establishment of enabling infrastructure which shall also give impetus to bilateral trade between the two countries.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), was thus signed on 08.06.2019 to establish a direct passenger-cum-cargo ferry service between India and Maldives with a view to providing an alternate, direct and less expensive means for transport for passengers and goods and to advance economic, social and cultural ties between the two countries.
To take things forward and to reaffirm our commitment towards the vision of our Honorable Prime Minister, various steps have been undertaken to take the aspirations forward and towards this end, we announce the commencement of a Direct Shipping Service between the two countries which would flag off from India in the third week of September, 2020. The service will be performed by The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd., under the umbrella of Ministry of Shipping Government of India.
The Direct Shipping service shall be connecting Cochin/Tuticorin and Male with a container cum break bulk vessel which can carry about 200 TEUS and 3000 mts of break bulk cargo and will have a round voyage of 10 days. The vessel is expected to carry commodities like electrical machinery and equipment, white goods like Televisions, Home Appliances, etc, pharmaceuticals, medicines, Iron & Steel, construction material, sand, clothes, fabrics & textiles, toilet fittings, furniture in addition to perishable goods like fruits and vegetables, eggs, food grains etc.
The direct cargo shipping service is expected to give momentum to bilateral trade and economic relations and further strengthen the dynamic people-to-people between the two countries.”
