Hapag-Lloyd will be launching a Southeast India-Europe Express (IEX) service in October 2019, “the first dedicated direct service from south-east India to Europe”, to “strengthen and optimise its market-leading position in southeast India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to and from North Europe”.
The service will include direct connections between India, the Middle East (Jeddah and Damietta) and Europe (Piraeus, Le Havre, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg and London Gateway).
It will feature calls along India’s eastern coast and the transhipment hub of Colombo for feeder services coming from the Bangladeshi textile export gateway of Chittagong.
The weekly IEX service, to be jointly operated with ONE, YML and COSCO, will be made up of nine 6,500 TEU vessels, with Hapag-Lloyd contributing four ships.
The first departures are scheduled for 26 October with the following port rotation:
Visakhapatnam – Krishnapatnam – Chennai – Tuticorin – Colombo – Cochin – Damietta – Piraeus – Rotterdam – London Gateway Port – Hamburg – Antwerp – Le Havre – Damietta – Jeddah – Colombo – Visakhapatnam.
Source: Lloyd’s Loading List