Tuticorin Port News

India's V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust, Tuticorin and Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for facilitating Direct Port Entry (DPE) of e-sealed factory stuffed export container tothe port under ‘Ease of Doing Business’.With this MoU, Central Warehousing Corporation would make use of the 18,357 sqm area earmarked in the Truck Parking Terminal located opposite to Fisheries College, Tuticorin for operating and managing the Direct Port Entry (DPE) facility for 30 years on Annual Lease Rental basis.DPE facility would enable direct movement of containers from factories without intermediate handling…

Indian Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari Wednesday flagged off the maiden container mainline vessel at VoC Port (Tuticorin Port), opening direct shipping route to eastern countries.Calling the step a "gamechanger in container traffic of South India", Gadkari said that Tuticorin has the potential to become a "major industrial hub".At present containers from Tuticorin to Far East countries viz Malaysia, Singapore, China and Hong Kong are transited by the feeder vessels to Colombo where they are further connected to the mother vessel .With Mainline call being done directly at Tuticorin, there will be saving on account of the  transshipment cost. EXIM trade will benefit and there will be a saving of approximately 50 USD  per container as handling of container at Colombo will not be required.

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in Union Budget 2015 that government-run ports in India will be encouraged to corporatize and become companies under the Companies Act. In an attempt to professionalize Indian ports, which have been reeling under infrastructure bottlenecks, leading to massive delays in cargo movement, the government will encourage the 12 major ports run by the government to get corporatized. “Ports in the public sector need to both attract such investment as well as leverage the huge land resources lying unused with them. To enable us to do so, ports in public sector will be encouraged to corporatize and become companies under the Companies Act,” the Minister said.

Heavy Lift vessels visiting Indian ports are in for berthing delays at various ports. * In Mumbai Port, berthing delays of approx 10 days for vessel opting for BPS & BPX berths and for Harbour wall berth it is 8 days. For priority vessel it is approx 4 to 5 days. No delays inside Indira docks. * Waiting time in Nhava Sheva shallow water berth is  NIL to 1 day and depends further on the performance of ships at berth and cement vessel calling in near future. * Kandla port - berthing delays in normal import  is 8 to 9 days & normal export group is approx 2 to 3 days, and in 24 hrs group it is expected to be between 24 hrs to 36 hrs. * Mundra port is presently free from congestion. * Adani Hazira port - situation is normal. * Waiting period at Adani Dahej port is approx min 8 to 10 days.

Heavy Lift & Project vessels calling at Indian ports are experiencing congestion, which according to the trade is an artifically created situation. They point out that unlike other vessels, Heavy Lift vessels turnaround time may extends to two to three days or even more. As a result preference is given to other vessels. * In Mumbai Port, berthing delays of approx 8 to 10 days in normal group and for priority vessel 3 to 4 days for vessel opting for BPS & BPX berths,and for Harbour wall berth it is 3 to 4 days. No delays inside Indira docks. * Waiting time in Nhava Sheva shallow water berth is  NIL to 1 day and depends further on the performance of ships at berth and cement vessel calling in near future.

Because of their longer turnaround time heavy lift and project cargo vessels are not being given preferential berthing at most leading Indian ports creating in a kind of a 'pseudo congestion' situation at most ports. Besides, there is a lack of storage space generally at most ports for heavy lift and ODC (Over dimensional cargo) further aggravating the situation. 1) In Mumbai Port as on date there is berthing delays of approx 2 to 3 days for BPS & BPX berths and for Harbour wall berth the delay in getting berthing is approx 1 day. However, there is no delay inside Indira docks. 2) Waiting time at Nhava Sheva shallow water berth is nil to 1 day and depends further on the performance of ships at berth and cement vessel calling in near future.

India’s 12 major ports handled 47 million tonne cargo, which was up by 9 per cent year-on-year, in April – the first month of the current financial year. Tuticorin Port (V.O. Chidambaranar) recorded highest traffoc growth of 36.3 per cent last month followed by Mumbai port which achieved 31 per cent increase and Murmugao 23.2 per cent in comparison to the April month last year according to the Indian Port Association. Kanlda port handled over 6.9 MT cargo last month, the highest among the ports, with a share of 14.7 per cent, followed by Paradip port which handled over 6.4 MT. “In all, over 47 MT (cargo) was handled last month by various major ports of the country,” the release said.

Foreign players continue to dominate several segments of the Indian maritime industry: from salvage to dredging, chartering to ship management and ship manning, to name but a few. And the list of foreign firms setting up shop in India is growing as the country is hurriedly putting in place the required infrastructure to meet the huge demands of India’s growing international trade. Globally, India is the 7th largest country in area, 2nd in population and 11th in GDP, with the expectation that it will ascend to the top five in GDB by 2020. The country is blessed with a 4,700 mile coastline, making it one of the longest in the world not forgetting the 14…

A court in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin city has granted bail to all 35 crew members arrested from the US-owned Sierra Leone-flagged private maritime security vessel 'Seaman Guard Ohio'  detained since October 2013, reports the Business Standard (India). Citing the advocate acting for the crew members, Business Standard says that police had been due to file a charge sheet within 60 days of the arrests, but had failed to do so, and hence the court granted bail. The Coast Guard escorted the ship with 35 people - 10 crew and 25 security guards - to Tuticorin port Oct 12, 2013.

In a swift operation, the Indian Coast Guard has detained a Sierra Leone-flagged vessel with 25 armed guards on board, at Tuticorin. The vessel, 'Seaman Guard Ohio' is owned by US-based maritime security firm AdvanFort, but those on board were unable to explain why they had entered Indian waters, reports 'The Hindu'. 'The Hindu' cites Inspector-General and Commander Coast Guard (Region East) Satya Prakash Sharm as stating that the operations centre received information late on Friday that a vessel with armed guards on board was seen near the Tuticorin coast.

Union activists in India & Sri Lanka inspected flag of convenience vessels at ports across South Asia to help improve seafarers’ pay & conditions. Riding on the success of the first staggered week of action in October, dockers’ and seafarers’ unionists in India and Sri Lanka covered ports in the region including Chennai, Colombo, Haldia, Kochi, Kolkata and Paradip. Unions also inspected vessels at private terminals in ports owned by multinational companies, such as Maersk, PSA and DPW. Unionists visited 35 vessels and negotiations are ongoing in Korea to sign agreements on four vessels and in India to sign a fleet agreement covering five vessels.

with simultaneous sailings from Port Kelang and Shanghai. Taiwan and India Subcontinent. Mediterranean Region, Middle East, India / Pakistan), the shipping  group's links from and to India are being further expanded. addition, this new service also ensures good onward connections to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific coast of South America. Singapore- Hong Kong - Shanghai. In Sling 2 the port rotation reads: Port Kelang - Singapore - Colombo - Karachi - Mundra - Tuticorin - Port Kelang. In this sling Hamburg Süd is providing one vessel with a slot capacity of 1,500 TEU.

According to reports, the Tuticorin Port Trust plans to establish a shipbuilding yard on its premises, to be built on build-operate-transfer (BOT) or lease basis. Korea Maritime Consultants Company Limited, which conducted a feasibility study, submitted its report to the port authorities a few days ago. The yard would have a building dock of 1,279.5 ft. in length, 213 ft. in breadth and 32.8 ft. in height and five berths with a total length of 3,937 ft. The other facilities include a pipe fabrication and assembly unit, pre-erection yard, galvanising unit, hull fabrication section and provision to stack steel, pipes and hull blocks. About 60,000 to 66,000 tons of steel meant for shipbuilding would be handled at the yard in a year. Source: The Hindu