GWC Marine received the MSC Lirica’s maiden call at Doha Port yesterday. 
To commemorate the event, a crest handing ceremony was held by GWC aboard the vessel, with GWC senior director (Freight Forwarding) Bobby George handing the crest to MSC Lirica captain Raffaele Ponti.
Besides GWC’s senior executives, the event was attended by the Port and Customs authorities, including Doha Port assistant manager Majed Youssef al-Malki, assistant director ( Sea Customs) Ahmed al- Sahli, Head (Tourism Investment Policy Section) Hend al-Naama and Cruise Development Consultant Claudio Alejandro Kindsvater.
MSC Lirica, a giant cruise ship owned and operated by MSC Cruises, holds a maximum capacity of 1,560 passengers and a crew compliment of approximately 732 members. It 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 co-ordination with various authorities, this maiden call 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 centre hubs. 
“We would 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,” Menon said. 
“Our shipping agency services are 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.”