A direct shipping service between India and Maldives would be flagged off next month. The service, agreed upon during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Maldives last year shall be connecting Cochin and Tuticorin with Maldives capital Male.<br />''<br />''A Memorandum of Understanding was signed last year to establish a direct passenger-cum-cargo ferry service between the two neighbours for providing an alternate, direct and less expensive means for transport for passengers and goods.<br />''<br />''The service will have a container-cum-break bulk vessel which can carry about 200 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit)  and 3,000 Metric Tonnes of bulk cargo and will have a round voyage of 10 days.<br />''<br />''The service will be performed by the Shipping Corporation of India Limited and is expected to give momentum to bilateral trade and economic relations and further strengthen the dynamic people-to-people contact between the two countries.<br />''<br />''The vessel is expected to carry commodities like electrical machinery and equipment, medicines, construction material, sand, fabrics and textiles in addition to perishable goods like fruits and vegetables, eggs, food grains. <br />