Context : Recent near- and mid-infrared surveys have brought evidence that the Milky Way continues to form massive clusters .

Aims : We carry out a program to determine the basic physical properties of the new massive cluster candidate [ DBS2003 ] 179 .

Methods : Medium-resolution K-band spectra and deep near-infrared images of [ DBS2003 ] 179 were used to derive the spectral types of eight member stars , and to estimate the distance and reddening to the cluster .

Results : Seven of ten stars with spectra show emission lines .
Comparison with template spectra indicated that they are early O-type stars .
The mean radial velocity of the cluster is V _ { \sc rad } = - 77 \pm 6 Â km s ^ { -1 } .
Knowing the spectral types of the members and the color excesses , we determined extinction A _ { V } \sim 16.6 and distance modulus ( m - M ) _ { 0 } \sim 14.5 mag ( D \sim 7.9 Kpc ) .
The presence of early O-stars and a lack of red supergiants suggests a cluster age of 2-5 Myr .
The total cluster mass is approximated to 0.7 \times 10 ^ { 4 } M _ { \odot } and it is not yet dynamically relaxed .

Conclusions : The candidate [ DBS2003 ] 179 further increases the family of the massive young clusters in the Galaxy , although it appears less massive than the prototypical starburst clusters .