MEDITERRANEAN Shipping Company (MSC), one of the P3 Alliance members, is commencing a direct weekly service between India and the US east coast in June operated by a fleet of nine 2,500-TEU vessels, branded Indus Express.

The service connects Mundra and Nhava Sheva to Valencia (west Mediterranean hub), New York, Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah, Freeport (Caribbean hub) and returns to Mundra via King Abdullah and Jebel Ali.

The carrier has been plying the India-USEC trade route via transshipment at Salalah (westbound) and at Jeddah (eastbound) with connections to the Far East-US east coast Golden Gate service via the Suez Canal.

The first sailing of the Indus Express service is scheduled to depart from Jebel Ali on June 1, Mundra on June 4 and Nhava Sheva on June 7, with a first scheduled arrival in New York on July 1.