The Hindu Business Line : 15 cos evince interest in Chennai port ro-ro terminal

Chennai June 14 Fifteen companies, including six from abroad, have shown interest in the Chennai port ro-ro (roll on/roll off) car terminal that is being planned at a cost of Rs 80 crore under the build, own and transfer basis, for a period of 30 years.

Talks on

The Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) officials on Thursday discussed the project with representatives from companies involved in car-carrier logistics and automobile manufacturers who intend to export their cars through the Chennai port.

The companies are: Mahindra & Mahindra, Sical Logistics, Mitsui OSK Line, K Line, GBA Group (UK), Parekh Marine Agencies, SVEC Constructions (Hyderabad), JM Baxi, Wallenium Wilhelmsen, GAC Shipping representing Hoegh Auto Lines, International Clearing and Shipping Agency (Chennai), ITD Cementation, Unicorn and ECL.

Mr K. Suresh, Chairman, ChPT, said the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), has also shown interest in the ro-ro car terminal.

PSA runs the Tuticorin Container Terminal and recently won the bid for the second container terminal in Chennai. It plans to join hands with NYK Line for the ro-ro car terminal, Mr Suresh said after meeting Mr Eddie Teh, Group CEO, PSA, today.

Issues

Representatives at the meeting pointed out that Hyundai, being the largest car exporter from the Chennai port, should also be part of the project, Mr Suresh told Business Line.

The meeting discussed issues such as volumes of cars/trucks likely to be handled through the terminal; facilities required; norms for benchmarking the performance of comparable ro-ro terminals; physical details and facilities of the terminals and details of the car carrier fleet.

Ro-ro terminal

The ro-ro terminal will help transportation of wheeled vehicles that may be driven into and out of the ship.

It will be constructed on the southern end of the container terminal and have a capacity to park around 5,000 cars in an area of 10,000 sq m.

A ro-ro berth will also be constructed in 250-metre length, 30-metre width and 12-metre depth, according to sources.

Facilities

It may be recalled that that the port trust earlier had plans for a multi-level car parking facility inside the port. This would be done separately at a cost of Rs 50 crore.

Nhava Sheva had a ro-ro terminal, but it has now become a common berth. Chennai will have the only ro-ro terminal in the country, Mr Suresh earlier said.

Chennai is the top automobile exporting port in the country. It handled about 1.15 lakh Hyundai cars during 2006-07, 12 per cent higher than the corresponding figure for the previous year.

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