Shipping Corporation of India to buy 3 container ships for USD225 million

Government-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), plans to acquire three new container ships in the new year, and has set aside USD200-225 million to fund these purchases. These will be executed after securing the necessary board approval.

Presently, Shipping Corporation has a total fleet-strength of 76, which includes five container vessels. The shipping major decided to strengthen its fleet strength taking into account a visible pick up in the trade volumes in the recent past.

Reflecting the recovery and the corresponding revival in the export trades from Europe to Asia, shipments in the Europe-Asia trade route increased by 12.57% in October to 464,689 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), from 413,249 TEUs a year-ago.