• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Hyderabad, Aug. 27 Seaways Shipping has embarked on an expansion drive covering fleet and new destinations at an investment of about Rs 250 crore during the current fiscal.

The Chairman and Managing Director of Seaways Shipping, Mr P.V.K. Mohan, told Business Line that the company is in the process of adding two vessels by the end of the year to its existing fleet of four, and plans to add three next y ear.

The expansion of fleet would enable the company to cover the entire West Coast and the demand for container business continues to be quite buoyant.

Last fiscal, the company recorded total revenues of Rs 600 crore. With the ongoing expansion plans, it expects to achieve a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore by 2009-10.

After the inauguration of the corporate office in Hyderabad, Mr Mohan and the CEO, Mr K. Vijay Gopal, said: “We have been approached by some private equity companies for possible investment opportunity. However, we have not taken any decision on this as yet.”

“The ongoing expansion is under control and we expect to meet it with internal accruals and debt. However, in the next year or so, we may consider the possibility of entering the capital market,” said Mr Mohan.

The company started operations in 1989, offering stevedoring, carry and forwarding solutions.

Now it has emerged as a logistics services company offering end-to-end services.

“Soon, we expect to offer integrated warehouse services,” Mr Mohan said.

On the current expansion plan, he said that the company has grown to about 850 people and functions from 27 locations, including 14 overseas offices.

It has achieved a compounded annual growth rate of about 50 per cent.

“Having consolidated the Eastern region, we now expect to cover the Western part.”

Mr Gopal said: “Seaways was the first to enter Paradip port offering container services. This meant creating infrastructure. Since then, we have begun to extend services to various ports in the East, including Bangladesh and Singapore.”

More Stories on : Shipping | Outlook | IPOs

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
TCS $30-m deal with US airlines

Copyright © 2007, 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