State Trading Organisation (STO) has revealed its shipping line, Maldives State Shipping (MSS), will be using a 700-container ship to carry imported items to Maldives.
STO stated the first ship of MSS is currently on its way from Colombo, Sri Lanka, noting the ship is expected to arrive in Maldives on April 4. STO said the ship has specially allocated containers to carry frozen food items and containers to carry other items, adding the ship accommodates a total of 700 containers.
MSS is a subsidiary company of STO, which was established to facilitate items to be imported to Maldives through a local company at lower prices. MSS was established with 99.99% shares of STO and 0.01% shares of Fuel Supply Maldives (FSM) Private Limited.
A shipping line was first established in Maldives during the administration of former President Ibrahim Nasir. The shipping line, named Maldives National Shipping Limited (MNSL), operated for several years before terminating operations due to bankruptcy. MNSL was liquidated in 2012 with a loss of over USD 70 million and debts over USD 2.5 million.
Noting MNSL went bankrupt due to lack of port facilities and lack of preparation for the changes in the shipping market, STO said the new investment in the shipping industry was made after thorough preparations.