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Indian Oil has objected to the proposal of Cochin Port Authority to implement independent charges for LPG vessels berthing at MULT Jetty.
At a stakeholders meeting, IndianOil representative pointed out that the company could not accept the rate increase as the MULT Jetty is lacking basic infrastructural facilities like maintaining the promised 13m draft, fire-fighting facility.
The company had planned to bring GRT vessels up to (80,000 GRT) but due to the lack of basic infrastructural facilities, it is not able to implement.
He urged to maintain the current rates till the publication of next scale of rates and also requested the port to implement all the basic infrastructural facilities at the MULT Jetty.
Cochin Port has decided to implement independent charges for the LPG vessels berthing at MULT Jetty based on the guidelines from the Shipping Ministry. Most of the vessels are having the 30,000-50,000 GRT range for which an 8 per cent increase in port dues has been proposed.
The MULT Jetty facility for LPG vessels started in September 2023 and it has been 7 to 8 months this facility is running. During the implementation time, the port had issued the tariff referring to the COT charges and there was no independent tariff for MULT Jetty for LPG vessels.
Describing the move to hike rates as “killing the goose that lays golden eggs”, a trade representative who participated in the stakeholders meeting told businessline that the PSU oil companies are the major revenue earners for the port and the management is targeting them to shore up their revenues.
In the absence of the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP), the Board of Trustees can implement rate hikes without approvals. Literally, there is no representative from shipping firms or port users in the Board.
With stabilisation of operations and vessels started to call regularly at MULT Jetty, the port officials said that there is a need for fixation of specific charge for the port dues, pilotage, shifting charges and berth hire charges for the ships. The officials also informed at the meeting that the dredging cost has increased above Rs50 crore and there is a need to maintain the expenditure. The port facilities have to move ahead with the rate increase.
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