A new service for the CMA CGM shipping line has started at Damietta Container and Cargo Handling (DCHC) Station named INDIAMED, according to marketing specialist at DCHC Mohamed El-Alfy INDIAMED is a weekly service with five 5,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) vessels linking the eastern Mediterranean, Arabian Gulf, and India, a joint service between the CMA CGM navigation line and the COSCO navigation line. Meanwhile, the department of DCHC is working to provide new services to maintain the shipping lines working with the plant and attract more contracts amid the fierce competition between the container handling stations in the region. A report issued by the Damietta Port Authority (DPA) has showed an increase in the number of docked vessels at the port by 8.5% during May 2017 compared to May 2016. According to the report, the number increased from 234 during May 2016 to 254 in May 2017. The volume of goods traded at the port increased by 148% in May 2017 compared to the same period of 2016, reaching 3.1m tonnes this year, compared to 2.7m tonnes last year. The report showed an increase of 24% in the exports of general goods in May, where the volume of exported goods increased from 547,200 tonnes in May 2016 to reach 679,200 tonnes in May 2017. This is an increase of 132,000 tonnes on the back of an increase in the exported amounts of methanol and fertilisers. According to the report issued by the DPA, the number of TEUs handled through the port has increased by 16.5% in May 2017.
