NMPT | Nava Mangaluru/New Mangalore Port

[mangalore mania]

DUBAI, MAY 3:A cruise company has announced the extension of its third consecutive season in West Asia with 18 round-trip 7-night sailings and two 12-night sailings from Dubai to India starting in November, 2011, through to April, 2012.

Royal Caribbean International said the move is part of the deployment of a historic number of cruises by the global cruise brand, which has 22 ships currently in service, offering unique cruise tour land packages in Alaska, Canada, West Asia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

The interest in the two itineraries to India, which were introduced in 2010, was enormously high and therefore will be implemented again in the 2011-12 season, the company said in a statement.

The two 12-night India itineraries will start in Dubai, sail to Mumbai, Goa, New Mangalore — which is a new port this season — and call into Kochi. After two days at sea, the ship will arrive in Muscat and then sail back to Dubai.

Royal Caribbean Cruises has increased its fleet size to accommodate demand, which is growing at unprecedented rates.

Ms Helen Beck, Regional Director, International Representatives, EMEA, for Royal Caribbean International, says that the company has just concluded a successful second season sailing around the Gulf.

“We’ve received great feedback from our guests on the new 12-night itineraries sailing to India that we introduced this year. We are happy to bring Brilliance of the Seas back to Dubai in November, starting her longer third season in the region,” added Ms Beck.

Businessline

[mangalore mania]

Mangalore, May 9: Main Line container vessel – MV CMA CGM ANNA PURNA from West Africa (Port Cotanou – Benin) called at the Port May 7.

The vessel completed its operation of unloading 381 TEUs of Raw cashew for distribution among various cashew processing units situated in and around Mangalore and 63 TEUs of restows and sailed out on May 8.

This is the second main line container vessel called at the Port during the beginning of the current financial year 2011-12, the first being M.V. O.S. SUMSUN which called at New Mangalore Port on April 23.

The advantage of Main Line vessel directly calling at the Port is the lesser transit time and lesser handling cost. It will take only 25 days between Mangalore and West Africa whereas vessels via Colombo will take 40 days. The Exporters can utilize the advantage of moving their export cargo since the vessel is touching Jubel Ali and Khor-Fakkan Ports.

P. Tamilvanan, Chairman while requesting all the MLOs and Users to make use of the advantageous position of lesser transit time and lesser handling cost, has further added that the beginning of the current financial year shows very encouraging trend in the growth of container traffic. So far during the current year 2011-12(As on date ) 5052 TEUs handled as against 3648 TEUs handled during the corresponding period of previous year registering a growth rate of 38.49%.

The Main Line operators while expressing their happiness over the performance of the vessel at NMPT is keen in calling more main line vessels and few more main line vessels are expected to call NMPT shortly. The next mainline vessel M.V. CMA CGM EVEREST from West Africa is expected on 24-5-2011.

CoastalDigest

[mangalore mania]

MANGALORE, MAY 9:
New Mangalore Port recorded a 38.48 per cent growth in container traffic during the current financial year.

Quoting Mr P. Tamilvanan, Chairman of New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), a press release said here the port handled 5,052 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers till May 9 during the current financial year as against 3,648 TEUs in the corresponding period of previous fiscal, a growth of 38.48 per cent.

The release said the mainline container vessel – m.v. CMA CGM Anna Purna – with raw cashew cargo from West African port of Cotonou called at the port on May 7. The vessel unloaded 381 TEUs of raw cashew for distribution among various cashew processing units situated in and around Mangalore and sailed out on May 9.

This is the second mainline container vessel calling at the port during the current fiscal. The first mainline container vessel – m.v. O.S. Sumsun – with raw cashew cargo called at the on April 23.

The direct calling of mainline container vessels at the port helps bring down the transit time between the two destinations and reduces the cost of handling for importers.

The release said the mainline container vessels from West Africa bring the cargo to New Mangalore in 25 days. Otherwise, it will take 40 days if the vessels bring cargo via Colombo.

Exporters can utilise the advantage of moving their export cargo since the vessel is touching the ports of Jebel Ali and Khor Fakkan in West Asia, it said.

The third mainline vessel – m.v. CMA CGM Everest – from West Africa is expected in the fourth week of May, the release added.

Keywords: New Mangalore Port, container traffic

BusinessLine

[engineer.akash]

Second mainline vessel at NMPT

Special Correspondent
MANGALORE: The second main line container vessel of this financial year called the New Mangalore port on May 8, 2011, says a release. Called m.v. CMA CGM Anna Purna, the vessel from West Africa (Port Cotanou, Benin) called the port on May 7.

It completed its operation of unloading 381 TEUs of raw cashew for distribution among various cashew processing units situated in and around Mangalore, loaded 63 TEUs, and sailed out. The next mainline vessel, called m.v. CMA CGM Everest, from West Africa, is expected to call on the port on May 24.

[mangalore mania]

MANGALORE: Mainline container vessel M V CMA CGM Anna Purna from West Africa (Port Cotanou Benin) called at New Mangalore Port on May 7. The vessel completed operation of unloading 381 TEUs of raw cashew for distribution among cashew processing units situated in and around Mangalore and sailed out on May 8. This is the second mainline container vessel that called at the Port during the current fiscal.

The first mainline vessel M V O S Sumsun called at the port on April 23. The advantage of main line vessel directly calling at the Port is lesser transit time and lesser handling cost. It takes only 25-days between Mangalore and West Africa, whereas, vessels via Colombo takes 40 days. Exporters can utilize the advantage of moving their export cargo since the vessel touches Jubel Ali and Khor-Fakkan Ports, a port press release here said.

P Tamilvanan, chairman, while urging all MLOs and users to make use of the advantageous position of lesser transit time and lesser handling cost, said, the beginning of the current financial year shows very encouraging trend in the growth of container traffic. So far, during the current year as on date, the port has handled 5,052 TEUs as against 3,648 TEUs handled during the corresponding period of previous year, a growth rate of 38.49%.

TOI

[mangalore mania]

Mangalore, May 17:
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

BusinessLine

[Krishnamoorthy K]

A. J. Vinayak

* Dispatches 1.5 lakh tonnes in March after lifting of ban

Iron ore has played a major role in the overall traffic scenario of New Mangalore Port over the years. From 2004-05 till 2008-09, iron ore fines contributed more than 16 per cent to the total traffic of the port. In 2008-09, the share of iron ore to the total traffic went up to more than 22 per cent. In 2009-10, the share came down to nearly 15 per cent of the total traffic. The port faced a major blow in 2010-11 when the Karnataka Government banned the mining and export of iron ore fines in the State. However, the Supreme Court recently revoked that ban, bringing a sigh of relief to ore exporters.

In an interview to Business Line, Mr P. Tamilvanan, Chairman, New Mangalore Port Trust, spoke on the iron traffic scenario. Excerpts:

How is the iron ore cargo movement, after the Supreme Court lifted ban on its export?

Following the court verdict, around 1.5 lakh tonnes of iron ore fines, which were lying at the port, were exported in March.

We allowed the State authorities, including the Forest Department and the Department of Mines and Geology, to come and check the stock whenever they needed. See, we are always for the best system.

How do you foresee the scenario?

As far as iron ore cargo is concerned, we are optimistic with all the facilities we have. We expect the cargo volume to go up.

What impact did the ban have on the port?

For the first time, the overall traffic volume at the port came down from 35 million tonnes to 31.5 million tonnes in 2010-11. The volume of iron ore fines came down from 5.4 million tonnes in 2009-10 to 0.9 million tonnes in 2010-11. This was a big blow to the port. The deployment of labour also came down considerably.

How was the situation prior to the ban?

In 2002-03, the port did not have iron ore fines handling by private players. Only KIOCL Ltd was handling iron ore pellets then at its captive berth. Suddenly, the port started receiving the iron ore fines cargo in a big way. In 2003-04, we handled 1.6 million tonnes of iron ore fines. Then iron ore started coming and started establishing. Without any facility the traffic of iron ore fines was going on in NMPT.

Did you feel the need for additional infrastructure then?

Earlier vessels of 35,000 tonnes parcel size were coming to the port. Then we thought we should have a bigger berth, and started construction of berth no. 14 with a length of 350 metres and draught of 14 metres. This enabled us to handle parcel size of more than 75,000 tonnes vessels.

We did not stop with that. We went on an open tender and deployed 104-tonne capacity mobile crane. Then gearless vessels started coming to the port.

All these factors helped us handle more cargo. At one point of time, in 2008-09, we handled 8.1 million tonnes of iron ore fines.

What role did KIOCL play?

KIOCL is one of the major users of the port. They (the company) have a captive berth and loading arm to handle iron ore pellets. In 1999-2000, the company handled 6.1 million tonnes of iron ore pellets.

But in 2006-07, it came down to 6 lakh tonnes as it had to close down mining operation at Kudremukh.

Following this, the port allotted 11 acres of land to KIOCL Ltd to put railway lines inside the marshalling yard. In 2010-11, the port handled 2.1 million tonnes of iron ore pellets cargo belonging to KIOCL Ltd. At one point of time, KIOCL had a problem. This had affected the handling of iron ore pellets.

Business Line

Are they going ahead with the construction of Mechanized Iron Handling Berth?

What is the impact of increased iron ore export on Panambur Beach sand?
Recently mukka beach was polluted due to oil spillage.

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Due to policy confusion and financing risks for private investors, the Union government’s ambitious target to expand India’s port capacity by over 230 million tonnes in 2011-12 seems to have run aground.

The Planning Commission and the Ministry of Shipping (MoS) have begun talks to alter the framework of the model concession agreement (MCA) of 2009 for public-private partnership (PPP’) in port projects. The MCA has generally failed to enthuse investors.

The need for dialogue on modifying the PPP policy was felt after private investors backed out of a project to develop a new container terminal at New Mangalore Port.

The project will now have to be funded and implemented by the Central government, which is a sharp deviation from its objective to have all new port projects under PPP mode.

According to the MoS Secretary, Mr K. Mohandas, the New Mangalore Port project was hampered by the unrealistic tariff structure fixed by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP). “Now the Port Trust will develop the civil infrastructure for the new terminal, and PPP would be considered for mechanisation operations like cargo handling,” Mr Mohandas said.

He disclosed that some ‘minor changes’ have been proposed in the MCA, which would not amount to an overhauling of the policy.

Since the MCA was concluded, 13 projects were awarded in 2009-10 and just nine in 2010-11. In 2011-12, the government aims at awarding 24 projects to add port capacity of 232.43 million tonnes per year, entailing an investment of over Rs 16,963 crore.

Experts opine that even if the MCA is tweaked to attract private investors for these projects, serious financing issues still remain and will have to be overcome.

Mr Rakesh Srivastava, Joint Secretary, MoS, pointed out that the interest rates at which projects are sanctioned by lenders are set only for two years, with a re-set clause after that. “This makes the project uncertain for investors as port projects take time to implement,” he said.

What aggravates the problem, according to Mr Srivastava, is that port projects or project developers are unable to get a credit rating for the first few years of the project, and not having a rating attracts penal interest of 1 per cent over and above the interest. “We have requested that this should be waived,” he said.

Dredging Today

[mangalore mania]

Mangalore, June 13: M.V. KONARD SCHULTE, the mainline container vessel from West Africa (Port Cotanou – Benin) called at the Port on June 10.

The vessel completed its operation of unloading 399 TEUs of raw cashew for distribution among various cashew processing units situated in and around Mangalore and loading of 500 TEUS of export containers is in full swing. The vessel is expected to sail on the morn of June 14.

This is the 4th main line container vessel that called at the Port during the current financial year 2011-12, the last being M.V. CMA CGM EVEREST which called at the Port on May 22. The advantage of mainline vessel directly calling at the Port is the lesser transit time and lesser handling cost. It will take only 25 days between Mangalore and West Africa whereas vessels via Colombo will take 40 days. The exporters can utilize the advantage of moving their export cargo since the vessel is touching Jubel Ali and Khor-Fakkan Ports.

P. Tamilvanan, Chairman of the Port, while requesting all the MLOs and users to make use of the advantageous position of lesser transit time and lesser handling cost, further added that the beginning of the current financial year shows very encouraging trend in the growth of container traffic. So far during the current year 2011-12 (As on date ) 9615 TEUs have been handled as against 8917 TEUs handled during the corresponding period of previous year registering a growth rate of 7.83%.

The mainline operators while expressing their happiness over the performance of the vessel at NMPT are keen in calling more main line vessels and few more main line vessels are expected to call at NMPT shortly.

The next mainline vessel M.V. KALAUS.J from West Africa (Port: Abdjan of Ivory Coast) is expected on June 16.

CoastalDigest

[mangalore mania]

Mangalore, June 14:
The container handling at New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) crossed 10,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) mark in the first 75 days of the current financial year.

New Mangalore Port handled 10,076 TEUs of containers in the first 75 days of current financial year as against 8,917 TEUs in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, recording a growth of 13 per cent.

Mr P. Tamilvanan, Chairman of NMPT, said that the beginning of current financial year shows encouraging trend for the growth of container traffic at the port. In one of the earlier interviews to Business Line, Mr Tamilvanan had said that the port is aiming to handle 60,000 TEUs of containers during the current financial year. The port handled 40,158 TEUs of containers during 2010-11.

Of the total handling of 10,076 TEUs at the port, nearly 13.15 per cent of the cargo was contributed by the mainline vessels calling at the port during the period.

Four mainline container vessels from East and West Africa called at New Mangalore till June 14, contributing more than 1,300 TEUs to the total container traffic of the port.

The port handled one mainline container vessel in April and two in May.

The fourth mainline container vessel of the current financial year – m.v. Konard Schulte – brought 399 TEUs of raw cashew cargo from Port of Contonou in Benin of West Africa.

BusinessLine

[engineer.akash]

Mainline vessels bring cheer among cashew importers

Mangalore, June 22:


The frequent calling of mainline container vessels at the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) during the current financial year has helped cashew industries in Karnataka, as it brings down transit time between originating destination and Mangalore.

New Mangalore Port handled five mainline container vessels with raw cashew cargo from African countries during the fiscal.

A majority of cashew processing industries in the region are dependent on imported raw cashew to meet their processing requirement.

timeline

Mr G. Giridhar Prabhu, one of the cashew processors in the region, told Business Line that it takes a minimum of 45 days, if cashew is brought through feeder vessels.

In the case of mainline vessels, the raw cashew reaches Mangalore in 25 days from West African destinations and in 8-10 days from East African destinations.

Advantage of the mainline vessel is that the working capital of the importer is not blocked much, and the quality of the cargo will not be affected if it reaches within 20-25 days, he said.

The fifth mainline vessel of the current financial year ‘m.v. Kalaus-J', which came from West Africa to Mangalore on June 19, unloaded 282 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) raw cashew containers.

Processing units gain

Mr K. Pramod Kamath, Secretary of Karnataka Cashew Manufacturers' Association, said that the operations at processing units will be affected, if the cargo gets stuck in transhipment.

That fear will not be there, if mainline vessels bring cargo from the originating destination to Mangalore, he said.

Mr Prabhu said that mainline vessels arriving in time helps in the continuous operation of the processing units.

It may be mentioned here that five mainline vessels brought more than 1,500 TEUs of raw cashew cargo from April to June 19 during the current financial year.

The total container handling at the port stood at 12,106 TEUs till June 22 of the current financial year as against 9,044 TEUs in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, recording a growth of around 33.86 per cent.

The Hindu

[mangalore mania]

MANGALORE, JUNE 23:
New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) planted around 400 saplings at Meenakaliya village near the port on Wednesday.

A press release said that students and teachers of Meenakaliya High School, villagers of Meenakaliya, Mr P. Tamilvanan, Chairman of NMPT, Mr T.S.N. Murthy, Deputy Chairman of NMPT, Mr C.D. Kumar, Senior Environmental Officer of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and Mr Palaiah, Deputy Conservator of Forests, planted saplings in the village.

The port, which planted 10,000 saplings in 2010-11 in its premises, will plant another 10,000 saplings during the current financial year, the release added

The Hindu

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Mangalore, June 30:

KIOCL Ltd (formerly Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd) is likely to add a significant share to cargo-handling at New Mangalore Port Trust, if production plans at its iron-ore pellet plant in Mangalore are any indication. KIOCL is one of the major users of the port.

In a chat with Business Line here, Mr K. Ranganath, Chairman and Managing Director of KIOCL Ltd, has said the company is hopeful of producing around three million tonnes (mt) of iron-ore pellets during 2011-12. “If we can do this amount, it will be almost 60 shipments a year from the port here,” he said.

The New Mangalore Port handled 2.76 million tonnes of iron-ore pellets during 2010-11 as against 1.5 million tonnes in 2009-10.

(The port handled 0.93 million tonnes of iron-ore fines cargo during 2010-11 as against 5.2 million tonnes in the previous fiscal.)

The Mangalore pellet plant will be able to produce more after it is modified,, he said.

The company — it had stopped mining on December 31, 2005, at Kudremukh in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka following a Supreme Court order — is now procuring the ore from public-sector NMDC Ltd and some private miners.

Mr Ranganath said the company supplies around 40 per cent of its production to the domestic market, while the rest is exported.

If the Indian market can take more, the company can provide more, he said.

To a query on the estimated profit for 2011-12, he said the company expects to register 40 per cent more from 2010-11.

In 2010-11, the company recorded a profit of Rs 100 crore, he added.

Profits may rise if the company gets some captive mines for its pellet plant.

The company has applied for mining lease in Chikkanayakana Halli and Ramandurga areas with the Karnataka Government.

“We are waiting for the Government response on this. The company can do better, if it gets mines,” he said.

Business Line

[mangalore mania]

Due to coal, LPG, crude oil and container cargo throughput

In spite of a steep shortfall in the handling of iron ore fines, the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) registered a growth of 4.81 per cent in overall cargo handling in the first three months of 2011-12.

Speaking to Business Line here, Mr P. Tamilvanan, Chairman of NMPT, attributed this to growth in handling of coal, LPG, crude oil and container cargoes among others.

The total cargo handling at the port in the first quarter of the current financial year stood at 8.53 million tonnes (mt) as against 8.13 mt in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The export of iron ore fines cargo from the port came down to 49,000 tonnes during the April-June 2011 period.

The port handled around 7.20 lakh tonnes (lt) of iron ore fines in April-June 2010.

The handling of iron ore pellets by KIOCL Ltd stood at 4.04 lt during the first quarter of 2011-12 as against 4.31 lt in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

LPG

Mr Tamilvanan said that the port handled 5.12 lt of LPG cargo during the first three months of the fiscal as against 4.24 lt in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

During the first quarter, the import of crude oil for Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) stood at 3.41 mt (2.87 mt), and the export of POL (petroleum, oil and lubricant) products stood at 1.70 mt (1.32 mt).

Edible oil

He said that import of edible oil through the port increased to 1.47 lt (1.16 lt). Of this, the import of crude palm oil touched 1.23 lt in the first three months of 2011-12 as against 94,000 tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Stating that coal import through the port has already crossed the one-million mark during the first three months of the fiscal, he said the port handled 1.25 mt of coal (8.61 lt) during the period.

The port handled 13,142 TEUs (20-foot-equivalent units) of containers during Q1 of 2011-12 as against 11,283 TEUs in the corresponding period last year, recording a growth of 16.48 per cent.

Mr Tamilvanan said that general cargoes such as granite and timber have also witnessed growth during the period.

The export of granite from the port increased to 76,228 tonnes (1,440 tonnes), and import of wooden logs increased to 54,484 tonnes (32,966 tonnes) during the first three months of the fiscal, he added.

[s.yogendra]

NMP record container-traffic

New Mangalore Port is also witnessing upward growth in container traffic by handling 17,262 TEUs during the current year (up to July 2011) as against 14,676 TEUs handled during the corresponding period of previous year, a growth rate of 17%. The Port handled 23 heavy consignments for MRPL expansion works. The maximum weight of one consignment was 777 metric tonnes and maximum length 66 metres.

Record LPG handling

New Mangalore Port achieved a record in handling 2-lakh tonnes LPG in a month during July 2011. This is the highest quantity of LPG handled in a month so far, surpassing the earlier record of 1.86 tonnes handled during March 2011. NMP is the leading port in India in handling LPG. It has so far handled 7.13 lakh tonnes of LPG during 2011-12 up to July 2011 as against 5.77 lakh tonnes handled during corresponding period of last year.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/s...,sort-city.cms

[mangalore mania]

Mangalore, August 3: New Mangalore Port has achieved a record in handling two lakh tonnes of LPG in a month during July 2011 which is the highest qty of LPG handled in a month so for by surpassing the earlier record of 1.86 tonnes handled during March 2011.

NMPT being the topper in handling LPG in the country has so far handled 7.13 lakh tonnes of LPG during the current year 2011-12 (upto July 2011) as against 5.77 lakh tonnes handled during the corresponding period of last year with a growth rate of 23.4%.

The port is also witnessing upward growth in container traffic by handling 17,262 TEUs during the current year (upto July 2011) as against 14,676 TEUs handled during the corresponding period of previous year with a growth rate of 17%.

The Port has handled 23 heavy consignments for MRPL expansion works. The maximum weight of one consignment was 777 Metric tonnes and maximum length 66 mtrs.

The giant project cargo imported from South Korea has been brought in a special vessel M.V. SVENJA on 1-8-2011 and after discharge of all the consignments, the vessel sailed out on 3-8-2011.

Dr P Tamilvanan, Chairman, NMPT while acknowledging the sincere efforts and co-operation extended by all the Port labour, employees, officers, Trade Union Leaders and the Users for bringing laurels to the Port has requested all the Importers/Exporters to fully utilize the facilities available at the Port for handling any type of cargo.

[mangalore mania]

MANGALORE, AUG. 3:
New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) saw a growth of 23.57 per cent in handling of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cargo in the first four months of the current financial year.

Mr S. Gopalakrishna, Traffic Manager of NMPT, said the port handled 7.13 lakh tonnes of LPG in the first four months of the current financial year against 5.77 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, recording a growth of 23.57 per cent during the period. NMPT tops the LPG cargo handling sector in the country, he said.

The port handled a record two lakh tonnes of LPG in July 2011, the highest quantity of LPG handled in a month so far. The previous record was in March 2011 at 1.86 lakh tonnes of LPG, he said.

The port handled 1.91 million tonnes of LPG during 2010-11 against 1.63 million tonnes in 2009-10.

HEAVY CARGO

The port handled 23 heavy consignments from the vessel m.v. Svenja, from August 1 to 3. These consignments were brought from South Korea for the third phase expansion of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL). The maximum weight of one of the consignments was 777 tonnes with a maximum length of 66 m.

After discharge of all the consignments, the vessel sailed out on August 3, he said.

CONTAINERS

The container traffic at the port witnessed a growth of 17.62 per cent in the first four months of the fiscal. The port handled 17,262 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers during April-July of the current financial year against 14,676 TEUs in the corresponding period of previous year.

[mangalore mania]

MANGALORE, AUG. 11:
The Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) has urged the trade and industry in the State to make use of New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) for the shipment of goods.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Coastal Region Development Coordination Committee meeting of FKCCI in Mangalore on Thursday, Mr J.R. Bangera, President of FKCCI, said: “We have to make sure that most of the shipment of goods should be made from New Mangalore Port, and not through Chennai and Kochi ports. The only major port of Karnataka is located in Mangalore.”

He said Mangalore's strategic advantages include high literacy rate, enterprising nature of people, good communication network, well-connected roads to other parts of the country, and a good railway network linking the city with important trade centres. Mangalore airport is situated 19 km from the city, he said.

When asked about the lack of a maritime board in the State, in spite of the State Government making announcements regarding this, he said FKCCI will give serious consideration to it. This matter will be taken up with the State Government, he said.

It may be recalled that the State Government has been proposing the establishment of a Karnataka Maritime Board in its last three budgets. But the proposal has not yet materialised.

ROAD

Stressing the need for strengthening other modes of transport such as road and railways, he said the National Highway No. 66 should be broadened to facilitate the free movement of goods.

A permanent solution should be found for the problems faced on National Highway No. 75 on the Western Ghats, as it becomes un-motorable during monsoon.

Pressure should be put on the Union Railway Ministry to complete the direct railway line between Shravanabelagola in Hassan and Bangalore. This will reduce the travel time between Mangalore and Bangalore by three hours, providing better connectivity to the State Capital, he added.

[mangalore mania]

New Delhi, Aug. 14: The government is working on strategies to promote cruise tourism.

The tourism ministry has lined up several schemes for infrastructure development including a permanent terminal for liners at five ports — Mumbai, Goa, Chennai, Mangalore and Kochi.

“Cruise liners are great crowd pullers world over. We just have to promote this form of tourism and develop infrastructure for the industry. Cruise tourism will also be part of our Incredible India campaign. A standalone terminal just for cruise liners will make things easier not only for luxury liners but also its passengers. The ministry of shipping is also involved and plans are being formulated to develop the terminal,” said a senior official of the tourism ministry.

“We are providing assistance for products and infrastructure development for destinations and circuits and help for large revenue generating projects,” added the official.

In June 2008, the government approved the Cruise Shipping Policy, which includes development of facilities at ports and connectivity through rail, road and air. It is also taking efforts to ensure speedy completion of immigration formalities and hassle-free custom clearance.

An inter-ministerial steering committee with the shipping secretary as the chairman was set up in June 2010.

“On the promotion side, we are participating in cruise liner conventions, taking advice from major players in the industry and working on marketing strategies so that it attracts tourists and yields revenues,” the official said.

With demand for cruise tourism on the rise, private operators will increase services to Maldives and Lakshadweep from Kochi.

Various spots in and around Goa and Chennai are being identified and new routes and destinations are being mapped. Several operators are also planning to purchase luxury liners.

[ajay ramchandran]

Mangalore mania


you are doing a great job .Thanks