Rise in coastal services to boost Kochi port as hub

Kochi,- The prospect of the Kochi port becoming a transhipment hub is gaining momentum thanks to the commencement of more coastal voyages from the port. After Shreyas Shipping and Seaways Shipping, Mumbai-based company Jindal has also approached the port to start a service from Pipavav to Kochi, primarily to cater to the coastal business from the North to the South.

The company is all set to commence its services from this month-end.

Seaways Shipping had already started a service last month with a voyage connecting Kochi-Mangalore-JNPT-Pipavav and Shreyas Shipping has been in the field for the last seven years.

The rise in the number of coastal services will definitely help Kochi to promote itself as a transhipment hub as it would attract more mainline services in view of its connectivity with other major ports in India, Elvis D’Cruz, Commercial Manager of DP World, Kochi, told Business Line.

Better connectivity coupled with the 50 percent concessions given by the port management to direct sailings has instilled interest in mainline operators to use Kochi as a transhipment hub, he said, adding that shipping lines such as PIL and Hull and Hatch had already started transhipment to Mangalore and Tuticorin using Kochi as a hub. He cited the example of the Colombo port becoming a transhipment hub due to good feeder connection to and from most of the Indian ports and Bangladesh.

The commencement of coastal service will also help the shipping lines as they would benefit from the free positioning of empty containers to Kochi from various ICDs (Inland Container Depots) in the North at no cost. The lines will get an opportunity to move these empties through a multi-modal transport by utilising the road as well as sea route to avoid the high cost of transportation, he said.

A.K. Sasidharan, Branch Manager of Relay Shipping in Kochi — the agents for Shreyas Shipping — pointed out that coastal movement is going to be the future, as it would bring in a lot of financial benefits to the trade. Being a consumer State, Kerala could also benefit from the coastal service in view of reduced prices in cargo movement.

A 20-foot container moved in a ship will remove two trucks from the road thereby directly helping to decongest the roads, he said.

Besides the domestic movement of cargo, it would also help exporters to move cargo to gateway ports for transhipment thereby earning a considerable amount of foreign exchange for to the country. Given the situation, the need of the hour is to liberalise the laws for the promotion of coastal shipping service in the country, he added.