A NEW Mediterranean Arabia Conference (MARCO), set up for the Middle East trade, already has attracted with 11 shipping lines.
According to a report in International Freighting Weekly, another three lines have been targeted to join Marco, whose secretariat is in Rotterdam.
While the new conference is a separate entity to the northern Europe-eastern Med conference (EMERA), many of the lines also are members of EMERA.
MARCO members are Senator, Nedlloyd, Norasia, Sea-Land, Contship Container Lines, United Arab Shipping Co, Messina, CMA of France, P&O, Belgian CMBT and Germany's DSR.
Notable newcomer to Marco is Genoa-based Messina Line.
Marco will cover trade between the six Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states and Mediterranean ports in France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Slovenia and Croatia.