Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Oct 18, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Oct 18, 2005 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Logistics
-
Shipping Sethusamudram Corpn to organise road shows Our Bureau
Chennai , Oct. 17 THE Sethusamudram Corporation Ltd, a special purpose vehicle implementing the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project, will organise road shows in Mumbai, Singapore and Hong Kong to market the Rs 2,427-crore project among the maritime community and investors abroad. On Wednesday (October 19), company representatives will present the project to the Indian National Shipowners Association and the Container Ship Liners Association, Mr N.K. Raghupathy, Chairman and Managing Director, Sethusamudram Corporation, has said at a meeting organised on the project by the Hindustan Chamber of Commerce and Industry here. The company hopes to raise around $100 million (Rs 450 crore) abroad, he later told Business Line. "We want to do the financial closure before October 31," he said. Mr Raghupathy, who is also the Chairman of the Tuticorin Port Trust, said that all environmental issues have been taken into account while implementing the project, which envisages cutting of a channel to connect the Gulf of Mannar and the Bay of Bengal. In the last three months, 1.8 million cubic metre of dredging had taken place, he said. Due to the draft restriction, the canal would be able to handle feeder container vessels and not mainline vessels, he said. It may be recalled that a detailed report on the canal prepared for the project by L&T Ramboll Consulting Engineers Ltd had recommended considering 10-metre draft vessels to pass through the canal. Even though the worldwide trend indicates the preference for building larger vessels, there has been an increase of about 5 per cent annually in the number of vessels of size up to 30,000 dead weight tonnes (DWT) in the last 20 years. Also, with the draft restriction of 10 metre in the canal, there could be a growth in the number of ships specially built for the purpose passing through the canal, which may be called as "Sethu Max" similar to Panamax or Suezmax vessels after the development of Panama and Suez canals, the report said. The chamber President, Mr Ashok R. Thakkar, said that the biggest beneficiary of the project would be the Chennai port, which has the potential to transform itself in to a transhipment hub such as Singapore and Colombo. The project would also help in development of 13 minor ports in Tamil Nadu.
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | The Hindu Images | Home |
Copyright © 2005, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|