Train with export containers from Tuticorin ICD arrives at Vallarpadam box terminal

The International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam has received the first train of export containers from inland container depot (ICD) Tuticorin with 90 TEUs on Wednesday for connecting the vessel, Lal Bahadur Shasthri, anchored at the terminal.

Senior officials in DP World said the train has reached the terminal at 5 in the morning and had completed the unloadng operations within 50 minutes.

Unloading completed

This is an achievement for the terminal as it normally takes about two hours to unload the cargo.

The officials pointed out that ICTT has started attracting major volumes from Bangalore ICD in the last couple of months.

From handling one train a week with a volume of approx 150-200 TEUs a month, the number of train services have jumped to three fixed-day trains/week with an additional train on an ad hoc basis making it four train services/week with an approx volume of over 1,200 TEUs/month.

Meanwhile, shipping sources said the EXIM trade, in the hinterland, previously using Chennai and Tuticorin, have now started diverting their volumes to ICTT Vallarpadam due to the tremendous delays and subsequent escalation in expenses and hampered production schedules.

Alternate route

With Tuticorin port introducing a move count restriction affecting shipments by sea of transhipments containers from Kochi, the rail service to and from Tuticorin has definitely offered an alternate to the trade and shipping lines.

Cargo diversion

Apart from the diversion of cargo from Bangalore to Kochi, the sources said that cargo from other locations such as Tirupur, Pollachi and Coimbatore have also started being diverted to Kochi because of better productivity, guaranteed connection and mainline line connections to Europe.

When other ports such as Chennai and Tuticorin have been facing various issues including congestion, the Vallarpadam terminal has been able to maintain very high productivity of approx 30 moves an hour/crane and an average turnaround of 45 minutes for the trucks arriving at the Terminal.

With more mainline services on the anvil, Container Corporation of India is understood to have gearing up to handle the increased volumes to ICTT from Bangalore, Coimbatore and Tuticorin as well as connect ICD's like Chennai and Hyderabad to ICTT shortly, the sources added.

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