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The Vallarpadam container terminal, scheduled to be commissioned on February 11, expects to attract a large part of the seafood cargo now being transshipped through Colombo.
According to officials of the Seafood Exporters Association, this would be possible, provided Vallarpadam ensures adequate feeder services to and from the terminal.
There should be feeder services linking major ports in the West Coast to Kochi, they said.
Currently, most of the seafood consignments from outside Kerala, (from Goa, Mumbai and Mangalore) are transhipped through Colombo.
Seafood exports
Seafood exports from Karnataka alone are 59,000 tonnes last year. These exports consignments can be attracted to Kochi once the feeder service from these ports is improved, the officials said.
Besides, there is also a possibility to attract marine consignments from Gujarat as the State has exported 1,83,000 tonnes last year. Gujarat is the largest exporter of marine products in term of quantity.
Almost 75 per cent of the cargo from Gujarat is for South-East Asian countries and transhipped from Colombo.
According to shipping agents, some of the cargoes now being handled at Mangalore and Tuticorin ports, can also be routed through Vallarpdam.
Raw cashew ships
For example, according to shippers, raw cashew vessels from East and West Africa now call at Mangalore and Tuticorin besides Kochi port.
These vessels can make a single call at Vallarpadam, where the marine charges will be comparable to Colombo, and discharge cargo for Mangalore and Tuticorin at Vallarpadam and tranship them to Mangalore and Tuticorin.
Throughput
“The incremental volumes from South Karnataka and southern Tamil Nadu and, possibly Hyderabad and southern Andhra Pradesh, will find its way to Vallarpadam”, said a leading shipping agent. The relay of export/import from/to Mangalore and Tuticorin via Vallarpadom will create the biggest increase in throughput at Vallarpadom, he said.
main line vessels
Similarly if Vallarpdam gets direct mainline vessels to Europe and the United States at Vallarpadam, the export cargo from Mangalore and Tuticorin can be transhipped through Vallarpadam.
Even some of the containers cargoes coming to western ports such as Mumbai or JNPT can also be diverted to Kochi, provided the terminal cost at Kochi are comparable to Colombo or Dubai.
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