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Kochi: The onset of the south-west monsoon and the peak West Africa raw cashew imports season haveresulted in the drop of productivity levels at the container terminal of Kochi port to an all-time low of around 80-90 moves a shift from the earlier figures of 110-120.
Sources in the shipping fraternity pointed out that the Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal is lacking adequate space for storage of raw cashew trans-shipment containers meant for Tuticorin and Mangalore ports, which are discharged from mainline vessels from West African ports.
Feeder vessels
Though the space crunch is an annual phenomenon, the shipping circles alleged that the terminal operator is not taking any serious steps to overcome the problem since the Vallarpadam terminal is expected to commence operations shortly.
This has also resulted in delay in vessel movements calling at the port. Besides, feeder vessels, which tranship containers to Colombo for onward shipments on mainliners to various destinations, are unable to connect those trans-shipment containers on to the designated mainliners.
Reasons for delay
The sources also attributed the reasons for the delay to frequent equipment failures in the terminal and slow movement of import-laden containers lying in the terminal for many months.
They had also suggested that the present situation in the terminal could be resolved by shifting such long staying containers to the nearby Concor yard or any other private CFS notified by the Customs Department on a war footing.
This would improve the productivity and turnaround of vessels calling at Kochi.
When contacted, Mr Krishnadas, Chief Executive Officer, DP World, Kochi, said that this year's season of cashew imports from East Africa has seen a surge in volume and Kochi had a record monthly handling of over 30,000 TEUs in May and July.
Fixed capacity
However, the terminal yard has a capacity of 3,000 TEUs and on account of the growth in volume, the terminal has an average yard holding of over 5,000 TEUs. Moreover, the marketing initiatives adopted by the company have also resulted in the arrival of more number of mainlines with trans-shipment containers bound for Tuticorin and Mangalore to Kochi port.
However, the existing RGCT has a fixed capacity and unless the shipping lines and consignees take delivery of the containers quickly or at least shift these containers to nearby CFS, the terminal will incur huge congestion affecting the terminal's operational productivity, he said.
He pointed out that the restricted yard capacity within the RGCT has been affecting the company and trade at large for years.
Trade notice
Though the Kochi Customs had issued a trade notice in 2008 allowing shipping lines to shift long stay containers to a CFS to decongest the terminal, neither the lines nor the importers have moved a single container. With no support from the shipping fraternity, the terminal is now making arrangements to shift some of the containers to the Concor yard to control the impact of congestion, he added.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
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