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THE arrival of the 5,100-TEU Maersk Djibouti at the Chennai port has marked the launch of a weekly container service from the Indian city to the US east coast.
The vessel called at the terminal operated by Chennai Container Terminal Limited (CCTL), reports The Hindu.
The port rotation for this MECL2 service which calls at ports in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the US east coast is: Chennai, Colombo, Salalah, Jeddah, Algeciras, Savannah, Norfolk and Newark.
The service comes amid growing demand for container shipping services on this trade route, particularly as in the past containers from Chennai had to be loaded onto feeder vessels for transshipment in either Colombo or Singapore, from where they would be carried on to other destinations aboard mainline vessels.
The journey on the direct service from Chennai takes 28 days to reach the US, whereas before using the feeder route the trip would have taken between 35 and 40 days.
The Chennai Port Trust and CCTL have granted a 15 per cent concession in marine service charges for the Maersk service with a view to offering similar discounts to other shipping lines operating vessels from Chennai.
This may include a direct service connecting Chennai with various ports in Europe that will begin in May.
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