The Hindu Business Line : Bid to ease congestion at Kochi port — Steamer agents mull `vessel delay surcharge'

AGGRIEVED by the ongoing congestion experienced in the Kochi Port, the Steamer Agents Association is planning to impose a `vessel delay surcharge' on account of the abnormal delay caused to ships in its sailing from the port.

The surcharge will, in all probability, be implemented from October 7 and the quantum of surcharge is yet to be ascertained, Mr Ivor Gonzaga, President of the Association, said at a press meet. It may be in the range between $50-$100 per TEU, he said, adding that the mainline operator will have no option but to recover the cost from the trade. The Association is also meeting with the trade to highlight the situation in the port, he said.

The imposition of a surcharge become an absolute necessity as the shippers did not see any scope of improvement in the congestion at Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal in the near future or till the terminal is handed over to the successful bidder of the BOT project.

There has been a heavy congestion at the RGCT owing to heavy inflow of import containers and breakdown of equipment since September. The cause of this situation, according to shippers, is mainly due to the poor maintenance, and it had affected the productivity of container vessels. At present, a container vessel with 500 moves is taking more than five days to sail out from the port, the shippers said.

Though the Shipping Ministry had sanctioned Rs 54 crore for new equipment as well as for the maintenance of the existing ones, no investment has been made even to revamp the present equipment. "We realise that buying of new equipment at this hour of handing over the terminal to private party is not viable. The management can, at least, maintain the existing equipment so that the operations in the terminal are not disrupted with frequent breakdowns," Mr Gonzaga said.

Mr Madan Pillai, Vice-President of the Association, pointed out that one of the major consortiums that had been calling at Kochi for the last five years, is planning to omit Kochi from its port of call.

Moreover, the principals of almost all the shippers had informed that they would be forced to stop export bookings through Kochi and opt for Tuticorin Port if the conditions would not improve within two weeks, he added.

The Steamer Agents, he said had offered to provide a private reach stacker on a non-profit basis to ease the congestion at the terminal. However, the management has not taken any decision in this regard.

The Association, therefore, requested the port Chairman to initiate steps on a war footing to improve the conditions, as otherwise it could cause irreparable damage to the port's reputation especially at a time when the Vallarpadam project is at its implementation stage.