The Hindu Business Line : Ministry cuts cargo charges for coastal vessels by 40 pc

IN a bid to promote coastal shipping, the Shipping Ministry has decided on a 40 per cent reduction in cargo-related charges for coastal vessels. The revised rates came into force from February 1 this year.

Stating this here on Friday, the Chairman of the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), Dr A.K. Chanda, said concessional rates of marine charges are already in force for coastal vessels.

At a seminar on `Shipping's role in the resurgence of the East', organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Dr Chanda indicated that KoPT is toying with the idea of a shipbuilding unit on land at Jellingham, earlier occupied by Burn Standard & Company for its offshore platform projects but which is now being vacated. Several private firms have shown interest in a shipbuilding project at Jellingham.

The present boom in shipping, coupled with the introduction of tonnage tax, should boost shipbuilding activities, he said, adding that ship-breaking is another area in which the port is exploring opportunities. Three of KoPT's dry docks have been performing well and their modernisation, currently in progress, would be over by June, Dr Chanda said.

KoPT, he hoped, would end the current fiscal with a throughput of about 46 million tonnes compared with 41.26 mt in 2003-04, and would, in all probability, rank second among major port trusts. Visakhapatnam port would continue to occupy the number one position, but the growth in traffic at KoPT, so far at 13 per cent, is much higher than that in Visakhapatnam, he said.

The Executive Director in charge of shipping & transport, Steel Authority of India Ltd, Mr Ranen Nag, has indicated that the Haldia dock is important to SAIL's operations, as coking coal imported for all the company's integrated steel plants, except Bhilai, is routed through the dock. SAIL's coking coal throughput at Haldia in the current fiscal is likely to be around 3.5 mt, out of the total projected import of eight mt.

Paradip and Visakhapatnam ports also handle SAIL's coking coal imports, but Haldia, he felt, would handle nearly five mt of the company's coking coal account within the next couple of years. Deeper draught in the Hooghly, quicker discharge at the dock, immediate evacuation, faster loading of wagons and in-motion weighing system would help SAIL step up its throughput at Haldia, Mr Nag said.

In the present scenario of high charter hire for container vessels, KoPT's two-dock operation causing delays is a definite disincentive for scaling up throughputs, according to Mr Joachim von der Heydt, Managing Director of Bengal Tiger Line, a major feeder operator in the Bay of Bengal.

He felt that container operation should be concentrated at Haldia, with transportation of boxes between Kolkata, where an inland container depot/ container freight station should be located, and Haldia by means of adequate rail, road and barge connectivity. "Unless some real vision with strict direction is provided, I see a very bleak picture," he observed.

Mr B. Maity, Chief of Bulk Chartering, TM International Logistics, a Tata Steel subsidiary, stated that the ports keen to handle more of bulk cargoes must be geared to handle gearless capsize vessels of the capacity ranging from 120,000 to 160,000 dwt, otherwise, they would lose out in competition.

Norden Tankers & Bulkers Pte Ltd, according to its Managing Director, Mr Peter Borup, made 125 calls to various Indian ports in 2004, carrying 7.5 to eight mt of coal iron ore and cement in and out of the country. He, however, felt that reforms in the port sector are not happening fast enough. "There has been much talk about deregulation yet the action has been happening only at dedicated berths," he said. Earlier, in his welcome address, Mr A. Lahiri, President of the Bengal chamber, emphasised the need for integrating shipping with a multi-modal transport system to bring changes in the overall logistics system.

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