eyefortransport.com
03/09/2005
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Container shipping line, MacAndrews has launched door-to-door services to and from Afghanistan for shippers based in North America, Europe, the Middle East or the India sub-continent.

The shipping line is promoting Port Qasim in Pakistan as the most efficient cargo gateway for Afghanistan, and has established a network of through-transport services that connect to its EPIC, Indamex and Swahili Express container shipping services, all of which make regular scheduled calls at Pakistan's main port.

MacAndrews now offers efficient onward connections to and from hubs in Kabul, Jalalabad and Khandahar over Port Qasim. The company is optimistic that the services will satisfy an increasing demand for regular and dependable cargo movement services to the region. The line is able to accommodate aid, security forces and commercial cargo.

From Port Qasim, transit times are around eight days to Kabul and six days to Jalalabad and Khandahar (after completion of transit formalities with Pakistani customs). MacAndrews is routing cargo for Kabul and Jalalabad via Peshawar, whilst cargo in transit to Khandahar will cross the border at Chaman.

“With the international community continuing to pledge billions of dollars in aid for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure in Afghanistan, major cargo flows into the country are evident,” said Jim Robb, general manager, Indian Trades. “Pakistan has been a gateway for Afghan imports and exports for more than half-a-century, and whilst the regime in Afghanistan appears to support the idea of forging multiple trading routes rather than depending on one, we believe that Port Qasim offers the most efficient gateway for international trade.”

He added that the future opening of Afghanistan’s borders will give landlocked countries in Central Asia the opportunity to take advantage of the transit corridors to access the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf through Pakistani ports. “Ironing out the barriers to developing these routes will help change trade directions and accelerate Afghanistan's reconstruction as it grows into a major trade hub between Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.”

In Europe, MacAndrews has been offering door-to-door intermodal solutions to its customers for over thirty years. Traditionally an intra-European regional container shipping line, MacAndrews began to expand from its core European services in 2003 when it started offering a service between Europe, the Middle East and India / Pakistan, buying slots from the EPIC Consortium. Last year, the company joined the Indamex Consortium to offer a service between the Indian sub-continent, Middle East and the US East Coast, where it operates the 3,600 TEU Indamex Colorado.

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