Vallarpadam gets vital boost with east-west coast India feeder service
CONNECTIONS between east and west coast Indian ports were enhanced recently with the start of a coastal feeder service giving the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) Vallarpadam near Kochi a viable role as a major transshipment hub, reports The Hindu's Business Line.
Shreyas Shipping Service has introduced a bi-weekly service called Pan India Express, deploying a 1,700-TEU ship connecting all the major east coast ports to ICTT, having already offered a regular service to ICTT from west coast ports.
A senior port official told Business Line that connectivity to other Indian ports from ICTT was highlighted as a critical shortcoming in the emergence of ICTT as a hub transshipment port for India.
This was because Indian coastal container shipping with only 11 operational vessels was not providing sufficient linkage to ICTT, prompting the Shipping Ministry to extend cabotage waiver to the terminal last December last year, said the official.
This is the first time east coast ports from Kolkata and west coast ports to Mundra are connected by transshipping via Vallarpadam.
Shreyas Shipping also operates a separate service connecting ICTT to Tuticorin Port and back, making a double dip at ICTT to carry exports from Tuticorin and transship them on a mainline from Kochi as well as transship cashew import containers from Africa to Tuticorin.
Until now, ports on the east coast were only connected to international ports such as Port Klang, Singapore and Colombo. Last year, Colombo handled 430,000 TEU and transshipment constituted 320,017 TEU of this. Transshipment from India came to 200,090 TEU, comprising 100,045 TEU from South India, mainly from Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Tuticorin.
