Folk Maritime Services Company, a PIF-affiliated firm and rising leader in regional liner and feeder services, has introduced a new liner service linking Jeddah Islamic Port in the Red Sea with India's major commercial ports of Mundra and Nhava Sheva.
Starting in September, the new 10-day service, operated by two vessels, will enhance trade connections by enabling the transport of consumer goods from India and products from the Kingdom, such as petrochemicals. Along with deploying its own vessel, Folk Maritime has also entered into a Vessel Sharing Agreement (VSA) with Oman’s Asayd, which will contribute an additional vessel for this route.
Announcing the new India Redsea Service (IRS), Poul Hestbaek, Chief Executive Officer of Folk Maritime, said, “The new route will further enhance bilateral trade between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and India, and underlines our ambition to become one of the leading maritime service providers in the region. It will also contribute to the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to establish the Kingdom as a global logistics hub by enhancing connectivity and maritime sector growth”.
The new route signifies the expansion of 'friend-sourcing' between Saudi Arabia and India, further strengthening their robust bilateral relationship. The establishment of this route follows the 2019 visit of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, to India, which came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia in 2016. These visits have ushered in a new era of bilateral cooperation, including the formation of a Strategic Partnership Council co-chaired by the two leaders.
Mundra Port in Gujarat, India’s largest commercial and container port, serves as a crucial economic gateway for the northern regions of India, offering extensive multimodal connectivity. Meanwhile, Nhava Sheva Port, situated east of Mumbai in Maharashtra, handles a substantial portion of India’s containerized trade and is a key hub for long-haul voyages to and from emerging market economies.
Saleem Kadernani, Chief Commercial Officer of Folk Maritime, added, “The new service is an exciting development for the business community with new and existing customers having more solutions to better meet their requirements. We are excited that we can now offer a sustainable service for our customers, and the new route is expected to create more value for them in the near- and long-term”.
Folk Maritime commenced its official operations in the Red Sea with two liner services: one linking the Kingdom’s ports of Jeddah Islamic Port, Neom, and Yanbu to the Red Sea ports of Sokhna and Aqaba, and another connecting Port Sudan with Jeddah Islamic Port. The company aims to further expand its fleet with both owned and chartered vessels, enhancing its service by broadening coverage to more regional trades and providing greater access to global markets.