Mediterranean Shipping Company SA, the world's biggest container shipping line, is upping its game at the newly opened container transhipment port at Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram by raising the monthly calls to 48 in the near term from 35 and ramp it up to 60 calls in the medium term, the carrier said.
Since starting operations, first on a trial basis from July 2024 followed by full-fledged commercial operations from December 3, 2024, the Vizhinjam container transshipment terminal run by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (MSC) has attracted most ship calls from MSC, a carrier with whom India's biggest private port operator has a "good working relationship" reflecting in partnerships at Mundra and Kamarajar ports.
MSC has so far made some 140 calls at Vizhinjam with 35 calls on average a month between October and December 2024, bringing a cumulative 2.8 lakh twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU's) to South Asia's only semi-automated facility. The containers handled at the terminal have increased from 6,500 TEUs to 12,000 TEUs a week.
The privately-run Geneva-based line has also announced that its weekly 'Jade Service' connecting Asia and Europe will call at Vizhinjam before sailing to the Mediterranean ports from the last week of February.
Vizhinjam will also feature in the carrier's 'Dragon Service' in place of Colombo on the east bound leg.
MSC also said that it will start export-import (EXIM) operations from April 1, after the installation of a scanner and Customs approval for scanning of containers at the port and the road for EXIM connections are ready.
MSC said that its presence in Vizhinjam has helped the terminal steadily increase its performance by raising the berth productivity levels from 35 mover per hour to 50 moves per hour, the company said in a presentation at the 'Vizhinjam Conclave' held in Thiruvananthapuram on January 28 and 29.
To increase and improve the operational levels in Vizhinjam, MSC has put in over 800 hours of waiting time equal to 9.8 average berth waiting time for each call in December 2024.
"This effort at the network level, creating an extra cost for the shipping line, shows the commitment that MSC has embraced into the ramp up program of Vizhinjam port, making sure that the terminal is constantly supplied by moves and calls," it said in the presentation.
MSC has started a feeder service linking Haldia Dock Complex of state-owned Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Authority with the newly opened container transshipment terminal run by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd at Vizhinjam in Kerala.
The containers originating and bound for Kolkata/Haldia trade were earlier transshipped through Colombo port, a regional transshipment hub.
The service to be run every ten days is the first feeder service to be launched between an Indian gateway port and the Vizhinjam transshipment port after India constructed a transshipment facility to cut dependence on Colombo port for sending and receiving containers.
The 'Haldia Shuttle' service will also halt at Paradip port enroute to Vizhinjam.
Source: ET Infra. Com
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