GWC Senior Director of Freight Forwarding, Bobby George, handing the crest to MSC Lirica Captain Raffaele Ponti.
Doha: GWC Marine LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GWC, one of Qatar’s leading logistics services providers, received the MSC Lirica’s maiden call at Doha Port yesterday.
MSC Lirica is a giant cruise ship owned and operated by MSC Cruises, which is part of the Swiss-based MSC Group, the world’s largest privately-owned cruise line and brand market leader in Europe and South America.
To commemorate the event, a Crest Handing Ceremony was held by GWC aboard the vessel, with GWC Senior Director of Freight Forwarding, Bobby George, handing the crest to MSC Lirica Captain Raffaele Ponti, with representatives from GWC’s top management, and in the presence of the port and customs authorities, including Doha Port Assistant Manager Majed Youssef Al Malki, Assistant Director of Sea Customs Ahmed Al Sahli, the Head Of Tourism Investment Policy Section Hend Al Naama, and Cruise Development Consultant Claudio Alejandro Kindsvater.
The MSC Lirica, holding a capacity of 1,560 passengers and a crew of approximately 732 members, docked at Doha Port for the first time, as the country promotes the growing tourism industry and maritime transport.
“We are glad to have this opportunity to further entrench the developing trust of major cruise lines such as MSC Cruises have in Doha Port,” stated GWC Group CEO Ranjeev Menon. “Through careful planning, anticipation, and coordination with various authorities, this Maiden Call has proceeded seamlessly, a strong indicator of agile teamwork.”
The revitalisation of the Doha Port into a major cruise port in the region is expected to bring significant economic returns to companies, hotels, restaurants, retail, services and tourist attractions in Qatar.
The independent redevelopment aims to transform Doha Port into a future hub port for cruise ships and luxury yachts of all sizes, all of which will require the best in shipping agency and agency services to ensure the success of the project.
GWC Marine was formed under GWC in 2015 to offer shipping services that meet customers’ growing needs, which include full cargo agency, crew logistics, husbandry, transits, dry docking, bunker calls, protective agency, financial management and fully outsourced solutions managed through their service center hubs.
The subsidiary benefits directly from its mother company’s vast experience earned managing freight operations in every port of call throughout the nation, by using the latest technology and infrastructure to manage and keep account of all cargo movement throughout the supply chain.
“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the stakeholders involved, who worked hard and in tandem to ensure a successful debut for MSC Lirica Maiden Call in Doha Port,” stated Menon.
“Our shipping agency services is the latest expression of GWC’s sincere desire to fulfil every customer and client requirement by directly understanding their needs and offering a comprehensive and collaborative set of solutions capable of handling any project, no matter the size.”
