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News on Shipping
GE
Shipping acquires a Panamax product carrier :GE
Shipping has taken delivery of a 66,183 dwt product carrier BUILT
BY Hyundai Heavy Industries, South Korea in 1986. The Panamax
product carrier, "Jag Arpan" is classed with Lloyd's
register. The vessel on delivery is slated to enter into a ten-month
fixture at a profitable level. GE Shipping owns a fleet of 60
vessels including 29 ships and 31 offshore units. The shipping
fleet comprises 19 tankers (three crude, 15 product tankers and
one gas carrier) and 10 dry bulk carriers. With the latest acquisition,
the company's shipping tonnage has increased to 1.32 million dwt
with an average age of 13.6 years. The tanker tonnage with the
company now stands at 1 million dwt.
SCI
acquires 1.1 lakh litre crude tanker :
The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) has taken delivery of
a 1.1 lakh tonne crude tanker from Hyundai Heavy Industries Company
Limited. The vessel - MT Desh Bhakt is the first in a series of
four double hull tanker ordered by SCI in June 2000. Built at
Hyundai's shipbuilding yard at Ulsan in South Korea, the tanker
can carry about 1,30,700 cubic metre at a service speed of 14
knots and can discharge cargo at 7,500 cubic metres per hour.
With the acquisition of this vessel, the SCI fleet now stands
at 87 vessels aggregating to about 2.55 million grt (corresponding
to 4.35 dwt), comprising general cargo vessels, crude oil tankers
(including combination carriers), product tankers, bulk carriers,
LPG/ammonia carriers, acid carriers, passenger vessels and offshore
supply vessels (OSVs). Three more tankers in this series will
join the SCI tanker fleet by August.
Two Indian
ships stranded in Persian Gulf:Two
Indian flagged ships carrying consignments sugar to Persian Gulf
have been held up in the wake of US attack on Iraq. One of the
two vessels that had been held up had actually begun unloading
sugar at Umm Qasar, Iraq when the US and its allies started their
attack. The ship, which had unloaded 500 tonnes of its 12,500
tonne sugar it carried was asked to leave the port. Another vessel
laden with 12,500 tonnes of sugar for Egypt was also held up.
Both the ships are currently anchored off Jordan. Subsequent to
the outbreak of hostilities, the shipments to the Gulf region
have come to a halt due to increased security threats and increased
war-risk premium. Indian exporters or firms do not export directly
to Iraq in view of payment problems and shipments are done mostly
through third parties based in Dubai.
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News on Ports
Coal
handling at ports is hazardous for workers : The major
ports have handled 313 million tonnes of cargoes during 2002-2003,
while the non-major ports have handled about 100 million tonnes
in the same period. According to Mr. M.P. Pinto, secretary, Ministry
of Shipping, it is for the first time that the handling capacity
of the Indian ports at 344 million tonnes has exceeded the actual
requirement. In the previous year, during 2001-2002, the major
ports in the country handled 287 million tonnes, which indicates
a growth of nine per cent in 2002-2003. By the end of the Tenth
Plan, the handling capacity of the major ports is likely to go
up to 470 million tonnes, but the projected requirement would
only be 415 million tonnes. The government according to Mr. M.P.
Pinto, the government would invest Rs. 4,535 crore and the private
sector Rs. 11,000 crore on port projects during the tenth plan
period.
Last
date for approval of Vallarpadam bids likely to be extended : The earlier
deadline set by the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) for the approval of
the final proposals the Vallarpadam transshipment terminal is
likely to be extended by one more month as two of the confirmed
bidders have sought more clarifications on the project. This is
for the second time that deadline is being extended. Earlier,
the port management had extended the deadline from March 31 to
April 30. During the pre-proposal meetings held in March, two
of the bidders - CSX World Terminals, UK and Maersk A/S, Denmark
- had sought clarifications on the likely road and railway connectivity
to Vallarpadam.
Iron
ore throughput goes up in Eastern ports :There
has been a substantial hike in the throughput of iron ore in East
Coast ports like Haldia, Paradip and Visakhapatanam during 2002-03.
The combined throughput of iron ore handled through these ports
stood at 17.6 million tonnes, with Haldia experiencing the maximum
growth of 50% at 2.7 million tonnes, Paradip experiencing a growth
of 30 per cent at 4.6 million tonnes and Visakhapatnam seeing
a 16 per cent growth at 10.3 million tonnes.
CPT to
introduce EDI-based vessel management :The Chennai
Port Trust (ChPT) is moving towards facilitating paperless transaction
for port users and is planning to introduce electronic facility
to access all information at the port, including vessel arrival
and berthing. The port users could access all such information
through the port trust web site, www.chennaiporttrust.com. This
is the first major initiative under the electronic data interchange
(EDI), which enables users to book gangs (workers), hire equipment
and other marine services, which was hitherto dependent on long
manual documentation processes and personal requests at the port
trust. In the second phase, the port trust will also include electronic
payment whereby port users can make all port-related payments
online. For this, the port trust plans to have tie-ups with various
banks.
Cochin
port to discontinue volume discount scheme :The Kochi
port has proposed to discontinue the volume discount scheme, with
effect from April 1. According to TAMP notification to this effect,
this is being done since the scheme was an interim arrangement
till general revision of port tariffs was finalized. The port
has already made a tariff revision proposal before the TAMP, and
the revision is likely to be notified shortly. The announcement
of the withdrawal has been made as the port authorities felt that
users should be informed well in advance about the withdrawal
of the scheme to avoid future claims and related complications.
The TAMP has also been accordingly been informed of the decision
on discontinuation of the scheme. Meanwhile, a section of the
shippers have protested against this move saying that the scheme
was an incentive provided to the users to bring more cargo to
the port.
Kerala
government appoints L&T Ramboll for Vizhinjam project: The Kerala
state government has appointed L&T Ramboll as the consultant
for the development of Vizhinjam port. The consultant is expected
to come out with a feasibility report within 20-24 weeks. In the
meantime, tenders will be floated inviting expressions of interest
for selecting a project developer, who will join hands with the
consultant to implement the project, estimated to cost Rs 2,500
crore. The project proposal envisages a mega transshipment hub
with 30 berths, 20 handling containers and remaining berths handling
general cargo and petroleum, oil and lubricants. The port will
also have a full-fledged bunkering facility, a free trade zone
and a passenger berth. The state port department has also received
two expressions of interest, one from the Delhi-based Punj Lloyd
and the other from Universal Lubricants of Sharjah for the development
of Azhikkal, another minor port location to be developed into
a multi-purpose cargo port, with berths capable of handling general
cargo as also containers. It will also have wharfs, which will
cater to ships of up to 5,000 dwt. Other planned infrastructure
includes dry cargo handling, ship repairs, oil jetties and terminal
facilities for cruise lines at an anticipated cost of Rs. 1,500
crore.
Tuticorin
records all-time high cargo throughput in 2002-03 :The Tuticorin
port has achieved an all-time high cargo throughput of 13.29 million
tonnes (mt) in 2002-03, posting a 2.13 per cent growth over the
previous year's 13.02 mt. Of the total cargo handled, exports
constituted 3.73 mt, showing a growth of 0.52 mt and imports at
9.56 mt a decline of 0.24 mt. The container throughput at 212,925
TEUs showed a marginal drop of 0.27 per cent over the previous
year figure of 213,509 TEUs. Among the items exported through
the port were wheat at 6.56 lakh tonnes, ilemenite sand 1.22 lakh
tonnes, cement 40,000 tonnes, granite stone 3.43 lakh tonne, sugar
5.14 lakh tonne, containerized cargo 13.75 lakh tonne and rice
48,000 tonnes. Among the items imported through the port include
edible oil 90,000 tonnes, pet coke 1.9 lakh tonne, sulphur 1.02
lakh tonne, rock phosphate 5.6 lakh tonne, furnace oil 2.76 lakh
tonne, LPG at 68,000 tonnes, copper concentrate at 5.86 lakh tonne
and containerized cargo at 9.26 lakh tonne.
There been some drop in import of items such as thermal coal,
industrial coal phosphoric acid and fertilizers. Among the export
items, only the throughput of salt saw a decline
.
NMMT
records all-time high traffic in 2002-03 :New Mangalore
port registered a record throughput of 21.43 million tonnes during
2002-2003, against 17.50 million tonnes last year, registering
a growth rate of 22.45 per cent. The port also saw a 26.13 per
cent increase over the target of 16.99 million tonnes. Increased
throughput is mainly owing to a substantial increase in the handling
of POL crude and products for MRPL and POL products for IOC and
BPCL. NMPT handled 7.32 mt. of POL crude for MRPL compared to
5.55 mt. last year (an increase of 31.73 per cent). The port also
handled 4.41 mt. of POL products for MRPL against 2.75 mt. last
year, an increase of 59.93 per cent. Iron ore concentrate and
pellets handled by the port was up at 6.13 mt compared to 5.78
mt. last year. LPG and cement traffic however, declined but there
was an increase in timber, coal, fertilizers, granite and containerised
cargo. The port also witnessed `steady growth' in container traffic
at 6,034 TEUs in 2002-03 against 3,929 TEUs last year. Commodities
like coffee, reefer cargo, cashew kernels, raw cashew, cashew
nut shell liquid, brake drums, leaf springs, dye stuff, cast iron,
gherkins, beedis, glazed tiles, electrical insulation material
and spices have started moving through containers at the port.
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News on Logistics
Railways
asked to expand Haldia-Panskura line capacity: The Haldia
dock authorities have asked the railway authorities to augment
the existing capacity of the 60-km long Haldia-Panskura railway
link. Unless the railways undertake the capacity augmentation
measures on this route expeditiously, it would become extremely
difficult to cope with the increased volume of traffic as projected
for coming years. The capacity constraint on this line is essentially
owing to the existing single line network, which at present cannot
handle more than 18 pairs of trains a day. Of this 13 pairs are
goods trains and balance five are passenger trains. The number
of goods trains is to increase substantially in the coming years,
as the Haldia dock readies to handle much larger volume of cargo
traffic.
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