The Hindu Business Line : `Connectivity to ports vital for container trade growth'

Connectivity to the ports and good port infrastructure are vital for the growth of container trade in India, according to Mr Shankaran, Vice-President of K. Steamship Agencies Pvt Ltd.

Presenting a paper on `Container trade' at the technical session of a seminar on `Winds of Change in Shipping' here on Friday, he said more and more raw materials are getting containerised. Container trade is catching up because of its cost-effectiveness.

India handled 4.89 million TEUs (twenty-ft equivalent units) during 2005-06 against 0.13 TEUs in 1980. According to him the total volume of containers handled at the Port of Yantian in China is 20 per cent more than all ports in India. He attributed this to the long coastline of China and to the presence of numerous river ports in China. He envisaged that more tonnage would be shifted to container trade in future.

Capt Mohan Naik, General Manager, Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd, who presented a paper on `Expectations of tanker trade: ship-shore end', said that the Indian tanker terminals are in a state of flux at the moment with many a modern terminal equipped with state-of-the-art design and equipment. However, many of the existing ones need to be upgraded and maintained on an urgent basis. "With tanker trade of all kinds increasing in mammoth proportions in the coming half-a-decade, this has to be tackled on war footing," he said.

Capt Venkat Padmanabhan, Vice-President, West Asia Maritime, who presented a paper on `Bulk market overview', said that dry bulk cargo constitute around 66 per cent of the bulk market.

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