The Hindu Business Line : Chennai port: Connectivity issues

Problems of congestion and inventory piling up inside a container terminal need not always be the result of an employees’ strike or a breakdown of machinery. Even a small connectivity glitch outside the port can have a big impact on the smooth working of the terminal. One such example is the bad condition of the road outside the Chennai port, and in particular the damaged manhole covers over the drainage lines, that affects movement of container vehicles in and out of the terminal.

The damaged manhole slowed down the movement of vehicles, in turn increasing the terminal’s yard inventory, which was 7,266 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) as of Saturday morning. This was significantly higher than the normal figure of less then 5,000 TEUs.

The limited yard space left little room to accommodate the sudden influx of boxes and hampered easy evacuation. There was inadequate clearance of import containers from the terminal, leading to excessive yard inventories, the Chennai Container Terminal (CCT) said.

Last week’s manhole problem came immediately after the CCT had signed a wage accord with its employees and arrived at a solution to the problems of trailer operators. CCT employees were on a ‘go-slow’, and trailer operators faced various issues, including the quick turnaround of their vehicles.

“It is frustrating to see that a small issue such as a damaged manhole can affect the terminal. This is completely out of our hands,” said Mr Ennarasu Karunesan, CEO, Chennai Container Terminal, which is run by DP World, Dubai.

“We are talking about privatisation and globalisation, and want to have a world-class container terminal. But the irony is that we are not able to immediately solve the problem of damaged manholes outside the port.” Everyday, around 1,500 trailers move in and out of the terminal. This movement is significantly reduced by the damaged manholes, he said.