APM Terminals (APMT)-operated Pipavav, India, is inaugurating its new ro-ro service to Mexico with the call of 59,217gt Grand Dahlia.

The vessel was loaded with 1,300 Indian-built Ford cars constructed at the recently completed $1bn Ford automobile and engine manufacturing facility in Sanand, Gujarat, approximately 300 km away.

The cars were loaded at the new NAL car terminal, comprising an 80,000 sq m automotive ro-ro stockyard and 4,400 sq m staging area, and leased from Port Pipavav by NAL. The terminal has the capacity to load 250,000 vehicles annually.

“This loaded shipment of Indian-built automobiles for export marks the beginning of not only a fourth new service offering to be provided by Port Pipavav, but also a new chapter in India’s growing automotive sector, and the new automotive manufacturing hub located in Gujarat State,” said APMT Pipavav md Keld Pedersen.

Ford’s Indian automobile exports rose to 71,181m units in the first 11 months of the fiscal year, exceeding Ford’s domestic Indian car sales of 69,885 vehicles.

Meanwhile, expansion underway at Pipavav will strengthen the existing berth, as well adding three new Post-Panamax and four RTG cranes and dredging, increasing annual throughput capacity to 1.35 m teu.