Dubai-based Marsa Ocean Shipping will launch a second India-Gulf service, deploying a single vessel of approximately 1,100 TEUs on a 21-day rotation, according to Alphaliner.

The new India Gulf Express (IGX) will call Mundra – Nhava Sheva – Sohar – Fujairah – Mundra, giving shippers dedicated connections from India's two largest west coast container gateways to northern Oman and the UAE's east coast.

The move marks a structural shift in the carrier's regional network rather than a simple capacity addition.

How does the new loop change Marsa Ocean's network?

As part of the adjustment, Sohar drops off the carrier's existing MGR service. That port's Gulf-bound cargo shifts to the IGX, which now serves it directly from Mundra and Nhava Sheva.

The revised MGR service will operate on a fortnightly basis with two vessels of approximately 1,200 TEU each. Its rotation runs Kochi – Nhava Sheva – Fujairah – Salalah – Fujairah – Kochi.

The split gives Marsa Ocean two distinct products:

• IGX: a dedicated India–Gulf connector focused on the Mundra/Nhava Sheva to Sohar/Fujairah trade, weekly cadence from a single 1,100 TEU ship on a 21-day round voyage.
• MGR: a fortnightly loop that now concentrates on the Kochi–Nhava Sheva corridor and the Fujairah–Salalah axis, using two 1,200 TEU vessels.

What does it mean for shippers and forwarders?

For cargo owners moving goods between western India and the northern Gulf, the IGX offers a direct, dedicated call at Sohar — Oman's deep-water gateway that sits outside the Strait of Hormuz — and Fujairah, the UAE's east-coast port that has attracted growing transshipment and feeder traffic for the same geographic reason.

Shippers who previously reached Sohar via the MGR's wider rotation now get a tighter, purpose-built service with India calls sequenced at Mundra and Nhava Sheva at the start of the loop.

For Marsa Ocean, the second India-Gulf service extends a network expansion that has already seen the carrier add India, Red Sea and regional connections. The IGX deepens its presence on a short-sea trade lane where mainline operators' relays are often too indirect for intra-regional cargo.

Why the India-Gulf lane keeps drawing tonnage

The commercial logic is straightforward. India–Gulf container flows are dense, short-haul and well suited to vessels in the 1,100–1,200 TEU class that Marsa Ocean is fielding on both loops. Fortnightly or weekly cadence on vessels of this size keeps slot costs proportionate to cargo volumes on a lane measured in days, not weeks.

The revised structure also spreads Marsa Ocean's port coverage: Mundra and Sohar sit exclusively on the IGX, while Kochi and Salalah remain MGR territory, with Nhava Sheva and Fujairah served by both loops.

For forwarders, the fortnightly MGR schedule is the key planning constraint — cargo that misses a sailing faces a two-week wait, which makes the weekly-capable IGX rotation the more time-sensitive option for Mundra-origin cargo.

No launch date beyond the Alphaliner announcement was specified, and the carrier has not disclosed charter details for the 1,100 TEU vessel.

With the IGX in place, Marsa Ocean now fields two complementary loops on one of Asia's busiest short-sea corridors, and further India-Gulf capacity additions from regional feeders are likely to follow as direct port pairs multiply.