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After registering a 27.66 per cent growth in container traffic during 2010-11, the New Mangalore Port is now targeting a 50 per cent growth in the current fiscal. Last year the port handled 40,158 TEUs and this year the volume is expected to go up to 60,000 TEUs.
“We are targeting to handle at least 60,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers during the current fiscal,” Mr P. Tamilvanan, Chairman, New Mangalore Port Trust, told Business Line . The container volume has been growing over the past few years. Cashew is the major container cargo for the port which mainly handles bulk and oil cargo. With the port beginning to handle mainline vessels, the volume of container traffic is expected to go up, he said.
Export cargo volume
The port also expects the volume of export cargo such as coffee, cashew, fish meal, candle and reefer cargo to go up, said Mr Tamilvanan. During 2010-11 coffee, fishmeal and candle recorded a growth of 83 per cent, 101 per cent, and 36 per cent, respectively.
The port handled 5,899 TEUs of containers till May 17 during the current financial year against 3,981 TEUs handled in the corresponding period last fiscal, recording a growth of 48.17 per cent. He said Karnataka is a major importer of raw cashews from African countries.
Though nearly 5,000 TEUs of raw cashews were imported, the import was fragmented. Considering this, the Karnataka Cashew Manufacturers' Association and the New Mangalore Port officials held a discussion in 2008, and decided to bring raw cashew in mainline vessels.
The cashew importers from the region decided to pool the containers at originating locations in Africa and bring them to New Mangalore in mainline vessels. “This yielded good results, and till now we handled around 30 mainline container vessels,” he said.
Strong infrastructure
Meanwhile, the infrastructure at the port was also strengthened. The construction of the berth no. 14 with a length of 350 metres and draught of 14 metres has enabled the port to larger vessels.
Added to this, the port deployed a 104-tonne capacity mobile crane. This helped the port to handle gearless vessels. The reefer plug points at the stacking area were increased from 48 to 84.
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