Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) is likely to start coastal shipping operations in three months. Initially cargo will be brought from Gujarat to Kochi and Kollam using a hired vessel, KSINC chairman K Mohandas told TOI after an interactive session with cargo dealers and other stakeholders here on Tuesday.
The ports in Kochi and Kollam have draft sufficient to operate reasonably large cargo vessels that can bring containers. The infrastructures for handling cargo are also in place. More cargo to other non-major ports in the state will be shifted to coastal ships depending on the feedback from these two ports, Mohandas said.
He said one of the major challenges for achieving the objective of shifting cargo from road to coastal shipping was that customers wanted hassle-free end to end transfer of cargo. They can achieve this easily by road, but they find it difficult when the operations shift to ports. These operational issues are being discussed at different levels, he said.
Cochin Port Trust traffic manager C Unnikrishnan Nair said nearly six lakh tonnes of rubber was being transported to other states from Kerala by road. This could be a major return cargo for coastal vessels that bring cargo from other states to Kerala. He said raw fish can be brought from areas like Varaval in Gujarat through coastal shipping for further processing in Kerala.
Chairman and managing director of SKS Logistics, Mumbai Sarvesh K Shahi suggested that many of the bridges over the inland waterways of the state would have to be elevated as per National Highway Authority’s suggestions so that vessels can pass through easily. Deputy director of ports department Captain Hari Varier said the state was considering proposals to give subsidies to encourage this cargo shift proposal.
Source: The Times of India
