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Singapore’s PSA International Pte Ltd said Sunday it has decided to continue with the longer free storage period for all laden and empty import containers landing at its facilities located at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and VO Chidambaram Port Trust till April 15 to tackle trade disruptions triggered by the Coronavirus epidemic.
To assist the trade and end-users bruised by an acute shortage of truck drivers to evacuate boxes by road, PSA-run Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals Pvt Ltd (BMCT), one of five container terminals operating at JNPT, increased the free storage period of all import containers, laden and empty, for an additional 3 days until March 31.
“After further review, we are extending the additional 3 days free time for all import containers, laden and empty, at BMCT and PSA Sical (operating at V O Chidambaranar Port Trust) until April 15, PSA India said in a 29 March trade advisory.
In the past 5 days, nearly 700 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) have been railed to nearby inland container depots (ICDs) from PSA’s terminals at Mumbai and Chennai with the support of Indian Railways, Customs, carriers, and ICDs, thereby reducing pressure on road transport which is handicapped by shortage of drivers.
“En-bloc railing of containers with Customs approval is taking place regularly from PSA’s terminal at Chennai to Concor’s Tondiarpet ICD nearby.
PSA said its terminals at JNPT, Chennai Port Trust, V O C Port Trust and Kolkata Port Trust are operating with added safety and hygiene measures as ports have been declared as essential services by the Central government.
Aside the longer free time of extra three days for all imports at BMCT and PSA Sical, PSA has waived rail terminal handling charges (THC) on empty containers on rakes at PSA Chennai and BMCT connecting to/from vessels at these terminals and change of mode charges from road to rail for both empty and laden containers until April 30.
Urging customers to continue efforts to evacuate containers as soon as possible, PSA said it may from time to time pre-emptively evacuate containers by rail with Customs approval to ensure sufficient space at its terminals to maintain productivity levels.
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