Feeder vessels ditching Cochin Port Trust

KOCHI: At a time when the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) is reeling under acute financial crisis, there has been a considerable fall in the number of feeder vessels calling at Kochi port, according to the statistics available with the Cochin Steamer Agents’ Association (CSAA). “During April 2010-11, 302 feeder vessels called at the Kochi port. The number has fallen to 289 during April 2011-February 2012. We hope this would go up to 298 by March 31. However, the number of mainline vessels  which arrived at the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) stood at 61,” CSAA president Santhosh Kumar said.“The container shipping industry is going through a very tough phase owing to recession in Europe, with many mainlines deciding to terminate non-viable services,” he said.Santhosh has urged the Cochin port to extent 30 per cent concessional tariff to feeder vessels till March 2013 in the wake of the problems being faced by the container shipping industry owing to prospects of a European recession.It may be noted that the number of vessels came down after the container handling operations were shifted to the ICTT in February 2011.Meanwhile, key officials of the Dubai Port (DP) World, the operators of the terminal, said that shipping lines had begun to make maximum utilisation of the carrying capacity of vessels and this may be a reason for the drop in the number of calls. “Earlier, most ships were utilising 60-70 per cent of their carrying capacity. Now, they have started optimum utilisation of capacity of vessels. This is clear as there has not been any drop in the cargo volume though there was a fall in the number of feeder vessels,” DP World sources said.However, they said that many shipping lines had diverted their port of call to Tuticorin and Mangalore during the last cashew season.The CSAA also echoed the view of the DP World authorities that utilisation of carrying capacity would be a major reason for drop in the number of calls by feeder vessels. The CSAA has further urged the port management to recommend the association for the trustee’s seat on the Port’s Board of Trustees for 2012-14.