The Hindu Business Line : Vizag CFS starts reefer cargo services

IN a significant development for seafood exporters in this region, the container freight station (CFS) of the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) has launched reefer cargo services.

The first consignment of reefer cargo, comprising 700 cartoons of frozen shrimps belonging to the Vizag-based Devi Sea Foods, was loaded at the CFS on Monday and transported to the Vizag port for onward shipment to Japan. The freight station now expects to get a regular flow of reefer cargoes from the clutch of seafood exporters and aquaculture farms based in this region.

The CFS, which launched its operations here in December last with Seaways Shipping Ltd (SSL) being the handling agents, has been servicing only dry cargoes. Its foray into refrigerated cargo is expected to boost container traffic through Vizag port, especially as a significant slice of seafood traffic from this region is being exported through Chennai port in the absence of full-fledged container handling facilities at Vizag.

According to Mr G. Rambabu, Vizag CFS Manager, an exclusive sub-station was set up in the premises of the freight station, with 30 plug points to facilitate simultaneous loading of 30 containers. So far, the CFS has been handling import cargo of wastepaper for the paper mills located in the coastal region of the State and export traffic of rig material used by ONGC in its Krishna-Godavari basin operations and sandalwood powder. "The CFS handles an average traffic of about 300 TEUs a month," Mr Rambabu told Business Line.

Trade sources have pointed out that the major advantages in using the CFS facility for consolidation of reefer cargo outside the port include `operational convenience in stuffing' and availability of labour, both giving a sharp economic edge to export/import of container traffic. For seafood exporters, the CFS also provides the facility of clubbing of different quantities of reefer cargoes belonging to different exporters `in clean and trouble-free environment' without any waiting period.

The sources say the major economic benefit lay in the pricing structure at the CFS, which was different from the one at the Vizag port. While at the port, exporters had to pay for the entire dock labour board (DLB), which handled on an average three to five containers, irrespective of the quantity of cargo that they brought, the pricing structure at the CFS is based on per carton unit.

The CFS, which now has 6,000 sq. m. of open yard, is now being expanded for creation of additional space of 18,000 sq. m. at a cost of Rs 1.17 crore. The expansion is expected to be completed in a month.

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