Commissioning of International Container Transshipment Terminal in Vallarpadam will reduce the dependence of shipping firms on international transhipment ports for carrying out containerised trade It is expected that the first phase of the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) built by Dubai Port (DP) World in Vallarpadam would be completed by June 2010.The terminal is expected to become operational by end of 2010. It is to be noted that earlier the terminal was expected to be commissioned by the first week of April, but has been delayed because of some odd reasons. The terminal is being developed under the public-private partnership (PPP) model by DP World and Cochin Port Trust (CPT), and will elevate cargo handling capacity of the latter significantly.
ICTT to reduce transhipment time for containers
In this context, Ramesh Kumar, manager of VRL Logistics, a mid-sized logistics firm in Hyderabad says, “ICTT will provide a fillip to containerised trade in India as shipping lines will no longer have to be dependent on international transhipment ports such as Colombo, Singapore, Dubai and Salalah, among others. The same will save time and cost of shipping operators.”
 According to a report by consulting firm Frost and Sullivan, due to lack of an international transhipment terminal in the country, shipping firms lose nearly 40-50 hours in transhipping containers through international transhipment ports.
The first phase of the terminal will be capable of handling 1 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of container traffic and has a dock length of 600 metres. In the second phase, the dock length will be further increased by 300 metres, which will elevate the terminal’s capacity to 1.5 million TEUs.
“Apart from providing an alternate shipment terminal to Indian cargo, ICTT will generate more business opportunities for logistics firms operating close to it,” says Winston Vinod Kumar, manager of Geo Logistics, a small-sized logistics firm in Bengaluru. As per sources, CPT has invested more than Rs 1,500 crore in carrying out connectivity and dredging activities of the channel leading to the terminal.
Arup Choudhury |
