Kochi Port can leverage the opportunities arising out of the ongoing strike at Gateway Terminals at Mumbai’s Nhava Sheva Port to attract some of the waiting vessels to Vallarpadam.
The 5-day strike including the slowdown by RTG crane operators at Nava Sheva has severely disrupted the terminal operations and this has led to waiting of more than 40 mainline container vessels at the outer anchorage.
A senior official in a leading mainline shipping company here told Business Line that out of the waiting vessels, there are consignments bound for Hyderabad and Bangalore. Hyderabad alone loads at least 5,000 TEUS exports consisting of pharmaceutical, cotton and other cargoes whereas about same number of imports also is generated to Hyderabad.
With a proper marketing strategy, he said these mainline vessels could be diverted to Vallarpadam terminal and later transhipped using Concor to Hyderabad and feeder ship route to Gateway Terminals.
The strategy, he said, will offer a win-win situation for all the stakeholders including, shipping lines, terminal operators and the trade. Moreover, it can avoid bunching of vessels as well as unnecessary congestion in the Gateway Terminal, he said adding that this will be an opportunity not only for Kochi Port and but for south India in general to regain its glory.
A customer advisory of a leading shipping line reaching here said that the terminal operations at GTI came to a standstill at 7 am since August 4 after an unsuccessful meeting between workers and the management. The RTG operators who have previously been on hunger strike decided to take part in a go slow which had severely hindered operations.
The slowdown has caused congestion on approach roads to the port, with long queues in front of the terminal.
GTI is a joint venture between APM Terminals and state owned Container Corporation of India and is the largest container facility in Mumbai.