The Hindu Business Line : SCI joins Hyper Galex service to offer containerised sailings to West Asia Gulf

The numbers
In 2005-06, total ICD shipments to the non-UK ports at 1,202 TEUs represented 52 per cent of the total throughput.
SCI, with a total throughput of 808 TEUs, entirely to the UK/Continent ports, accounted for 74 per cent of the total ICD shipments to the UK/Continent ports.

Kolkata , Jan. 9

By participating in the Hyper Galex service, Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), for the first time, has started offering containerised sailings between India and the West Asia Gulf. The other partners in the service are Emirates Shipping and TS Line.

Several years ago, SCI used to operate break-bulk services to and from the West Asia Gulf. However, the services stopped long time ago.

Services

The Hyper Galex service, launched in November 2006, is being operated with the help of six vessels, each of 3,100-TEU capacity, and four of them have been offered by Emirates Shipping and one each by SCI and TS Line. The services, in addition to linking India with the West Asia Gulf, also covers China and South East Asia.

The service is proving to be of help to eastern region tea exporters to West Asia, particularly to those routing their shipments through the Amingaon (Guwahati) inland container depot (ICD). This is because till last year, SCI picked up boxes at the Amingaon ICD mainly for the UK/Continent ports. For example, in 2005-06, the total ICD shipments to the non-UK ports at 1,202 TEUs represented 52 per cent of the total throughput and those to the UK/Continent at 1,097 TEUs 48 per cent.

SCI, with a total throughput of 808 TEUs, entirely to the UK/Continent ports, accounted for 74 per cent of the total ICD shipments to the the UK/Continent ports.

The shipping line during the year handled only 129 TEUs for the non-UK port, all for Colombo.

In 2005-06, the total ICD shipments to the UAE were 859 TEUs entirely handled by foreign shipping lines — 743 TEUs by APL, 84 TEUs by Samudera Shipping, 28 TEUs by K Line and four TEUs by P&O.

During the same period, shipments to Egypt were 28 TEUs — 20 TEUs by K Line and eight TEUs by APL.

SCI was nowhere in the picture. It is different now.

Till December 31, 2006 of the current fiscal (30th rake), the shipments through the Amingaon ICD for the UAE were 468 TEUs and the share of SCI was 50 TEUs.

For the first time, SCI has started picking up tea boxes for Jebel Ali and Egypt at the ICD.

For Egypt, SCI has, so far, picked up 50 boxes routed through the ICD.

SCI's decision to participate in Hyper Galex service could not have come at a better time.

The tea industry sources indicate that the country's exports to West Asian countries such as UAE, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and even to Pakistan are set to rise in the coming years.

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