Cochin Port, Shipyard & Vallarpadam ICTT

[psanthosh]

Cochin shipyard charts big expansion plans; may tap capital market

November 25, 2012:
If Cochin Shipyard’s current plans are any indication, the company will most likely become a publicly listed entity by early next fiscal. The yard is gearing up to enter the capital market to raise funds for capacity expansion, estimated to cost around Rs 1,500 crore.

The shipyard’s owner, the Union Government, has also been toying with the idea of divesting a part of its 100 per cent equity. Both initial public offering (IPO) and disinvestment may happen simultaneously; and Cochin will be the first public sector shipyard to get listed on stock exchanges. Earlier, the indication was that sale of fresh shares by the company will be to the extent of 16 per cent of the equity capital and divestment by the Government will be 10 per cent. It is not clear whether the size of issue will be same finally.

According to Commodore Kartik Subramaniam, Chairman and Managing Director of CSL, the company has to first complete feasibility studies on its expansion plans, finalise the financing structure of the projects and then get Government approvals. “As regards fund raising, we are at a very early stage; size of the IPO, its timing — all these will be decided only after finalising the financing structure and getting Government approvals,” Subramaniam told Business Line recently. If everything goes as planned, the yard (CSL for short) may enter the market by the end of this fiscal.

High potential
“Today we are a debt-free company, so we can leverage (our financial strength). We may go for a mix of equity and debt to finance these projects; the size of the actual investments we will come to know only after the feasibility studies are completed,” said Subramaniam. CSL has identified three new projects — a new ship repair facility at the Cochin port trust land, a large dry dock to repair rigs and other submersibles and a fabrication yard for offshore structures.

The company has secured the Cochin port’s tender for setting up the repair facility. With this facility the yard will be able to increase its market share in the repair of medium and small-sized ships.

The dry dock for repairing rigs and semi-submersible is expected to have great potential as advanced facilities for such repairs are not currently available in India.

Repairs of most rigs operating in Indian waters are currently done at Singapore and other foreign yards. Given the cost of towing them to yards abroad, CSL appears to have great potential.

In the offshore fabrication sector, the company is targeting the requirements of ONGC. The Rs 2,500 crore offshore budget of ONGC is the incentive for taking up this project. CSL has, in fact, been qualified by ONGC to take up their fabrication work. The demand in this segment is projected to grow at 15 per cent per annum over the next five years.

misgivings
For CSL, these projects will be crucial for future growth. Its plans to enhance repair facilities, particularly rigs and other submersibles will help the company to insulate itself from the volatility in the shipping market and the sudden fall in orders for shipbuilding. Sadly, there has been opposition from many quarters, including the labour unions, to the Government’s plan to divest equity in the shipyard. Many hold the view that disinvestment leads to privatisation, which obviously is not the case.

In the case of CSL, the Government is only divesting a part of its equity and will continue to hold majority stake and have absolute management control. Listing will give CSL employees an opportunity to own the shares of the company they work for. Further, listing is said to bring in greater transparency and accountability in the working of any organisation.

For the year ended March, 2012, CSL reported a turnover of Rs 1,405 crore and a profit after tax of Rs 172 crore. According to the Directors report, both the top-line and bottom-line were down as compared to the previous year, mainly due to lower turnover from the construction of the aircraft carrier, besides the overall slowdown in the shipping market and the absence of Government subsidy.

Order book position
Besides the Indian Navy’s first aircraft carrier, the company has 27 vessels on order, consisting of 20 offshore patrol vessels for the Indian coast guards, six offshore support vessels for Indian and foreign parties and one buoy tender vessel for the Department of Lighthouses. Fabrication work of these vessels will be completed by the second half of next year. The aircraft carrier, the first of its kind built in the country, was technically launched last year. It is expected to take three-four years to complete.

“This is an evolving project. It poses many challenges, given the fact that India is the sixth nation in the world to design and build a carrier of this size,” Subramaniam said.

Defence orders
Most Indian shipyards, including CSL, are eying for Defence orders. The Government has allowed private sector yards to join hands with public sector yards to execute projects. The Mazgon Dock Ltd (MDL) has tied up with Pipavav Shipyard and L&T to build warships and submarines.

MDL has an order book of over Rs 1 lakh crore, a size it would not be able to execute on time on its own.

So, it is the right policy to tie up with the private yards, which have a proven track record. However, the disturbing trend is that while giving defense orders to private sector, emphasis is on infrastructure rather than proven track record. The reason for MDL to partner with a private sector yard when its own defence shipyard — Hindustan Shipyard — has capacity and is starved of orders, is puzzling. The Government should consider a system to ensure that while awarding strategic projects, adequate weightage is given for proven track record.

The shipping market has been extremely weak in the last few years because of the global economic slowdown. This has impacted shipyards not only in India but in other countries also. All shipyards in the country are starved of orders. Given the current outlook, it would not be easy for CSL to get large commercial orders from within the country or abroad anytime soon. So, until the new projects are ready, CSL needs to increase its earnings from the existing repair facilities. Far more important is to work out a strategy to get a large share of the Defence orders.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle4130549.ece

[Prasanth_KCV]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...cle4139625.ece

Kochi turning into cruise hub as more vessels drop anchor at port



The numerous advantages of Kochi have enabled it to become the sole turnaround port for cruise ships in India.

The port city is much sought after by cruise liners which stay put for more than a day. “Much bigger and busier ports are at best excursion ports, where these massive vessels berth for a few hours from morning to evening,” sources associated with hosting the vessels said.

The previous week saw around 2,800 tourists and 1,250 crew members arrive here on board Celebrity Solstice, a mega cruise liner. It left the next day. On Sunday Aida Diva – a cruise liner, called at Kochi. It will sail off from here on Wednesday.

This is the seventh time that the German ship is using the port for its turnaround operations. The 1,462 German tourists who boarded it from Dubai alighted here and left for their home country from Kochi on board chartered flights on Monday. On these flights came 1,516 high-spending tourists from Germany, who checked into Aida Diva. The vessel has 617 crew members, apart from a few hundred other passengers who did not opt for turnaround.

Elaborating on Kochi’s numerous advantages, the port’s Traffic Manager C. Unnikrishnan Nair said that cruise ship companies look for ports which have a good international airport in the vicinity. “They also look for efficient Customs and Immigration clearance systems and the availability of good supplies – food and other commodities, at turnaround ports. Another crucial factor is the availability of prominent tourist locales in the hinterland. Kochi has them aplenty - Fort Kochi and Mattancherry being the noteworthy ones,” he said.

Cruise passengers and the captains of ships generally give a good feedback about Kochi. The advantage of turnaround vessels is that they bring in double the number of passengers who can be accommodated in them – those disembarking it and others who embark it afresh. This in turn provides an added fillip to stakeholders in the tourism and travel trade of the region.

Sunday and Monday saw hundreds of guests from the Aida Diva check out Alappuzha. “A few went on a village tour of Vaikom and Kumbalanghi, India’s first model tourism village. Many went on a city tour and a backwater cruise,” said Jackson Thomas, general manager of Intersight Tours and Travels, the ship’s ground-handling and excursion agency.

Apart from regular flights, four chartered ones brought tourists from Munich, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf. All of them are Germans.

Intersight arranged 120 coaches and 40 baggage trucks to ferry them. This is apart from 40 coaches that were arranged for shore excursions. The tourists also use the pre-paid auto and taxi services that were arranged by the port to prevent fleecing.

The vessel, the only one that is currently doing turnaround operations in Kochi, will arrive here again in March, during its Asian voyage lasting eight to 10 days. Passengers can opt to extend their number of days on board, Mr Thomas said.

The port expects a total of 50 cruise ships to call at Kochi this tourist season.

[Prasanth_KCV]

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chann...rong-kochi-826

3,000 tourists throng Kochi

As many as 3,000 foreign tourists landed in Kochi in the last two days with around 1,500 coming in on luxury cruise liner Aida Diva on Sunday and the rest, by four chartered flights on Monday.

In what is called ‘turn around tourism,’ those who came by the cruise liner visited Fort Kochi and Kumbalangi and then left for various destinations in Germ*any with 900 of them by the chartered flights and the remaining by scheduled flights. Tho*se who came in by air checked into the cruise liner in the afternoon.

The cruise liner will leave for Colombo on Tuesday. This was the second ‘turn around’ event in the city this year.

The first one was on March 19, when the same cruise liner and the chartered flights made an entry into Kochi.

Special arrangements were made at the Cochin International Airport to facilitate a hassle-free check-out and check-in for the tourists.

Last year, a ‘turn around’ event saw 5,000 tourists interchanging flights and luxury cruise liners

[Prasanth_KCV]

http://newindianexpress.com/cities/k...cle1358974.ece

Kochi Port witnesses a turnaround in fortunes

The cruise passenger facilitation centre of the Cochin Port Trust was in a festive mood with the turnaround operation of the German cruise vessel ‘Aida Diva’ being carried out there on Sunday and Monday.

Though the centre was opened two months ago, it is the first time that the facility is being used as large vessels cannot navigate through the channel near it. During the turnaround operation, the passenger terminal hosted nearly 5,000 passengers, including 3,328 guests and 1,615 crew, on board the cruise vessel which was docked at the port on November 25. “This is perhaps the highest single aggregation of foreign tourists at any destination within a short span of three days. The vessel is on her third visit to the city,” the port authorities said.

Germany-based Aida Cruises has been using the Cochin Port as a turnaround destination since 2009.

Since then, the company has carried out six turnaround operations here, each call having at least 2,500 tourists. The first turnaround was for ‘Aida Cara’ in October 2009 and this was followed by two for ‘Aida Aura’ (October 2010 and April 2011). Three turnaround operations were held for ‘Aida Diva’ (November 2011, March 2012 and November 2012).

The vessel berthed at BTP jetty on Sunday. After the completion of sightseeing on the same day, the passengers started disembarking in batches of 150 to 200 until early morning on Monday.

“A total of 1,466 disembarkations were smoothly handled on November 26. When the last count was taken on November 27, a total of 1,862 tourists embarked for the fresh sojourn beginning on November 28,” they said.

The tourists were taken around the city in 81 luxury coaches, including five low-floor Volvo buses hired from the KSRTC. A total of 72 taxis and 127 autorickshaws were also hired by the tourists.

The port authorities said that, adequate facilities have been arranged for handling the passengers. There are 14 travel desks on the ship, 10 immigration counters and five customs counters followed by CISF counter and three frisking booths.

“The port management has put into service a brand new X-ray scanning machine to check baggage. With the addition of a new X-ray scanner, there are three scanners now. The existing scanning machines were installed by the Customs Department.

The final count of disembarking passengers is expected to touch 1,900 by the time the vessel leaves on Wednesday morning for Colombo. She will call here again in March 2013, for the next turnaround operation.

[Malayaali]

1088 cruise passengers to arrive in two vessels

Two cruise vessels MV Seven Seas Voyager and MV Seabourn Odyssey called at New Mangalore Port on Monday. While Voyager had 650 cruise passengers and 454 crew, Odyssey was with 438 passengers and 339 crew.

While Voyager is on her third voyage and Odyssey is on her maiden voyage to NMP. So far seven cruise vessels called at the port during the current fiscal year 2012-13. Out of the total 1,088 passengers in these two vessels from the United States of America and the United Kingdom, around 1,000 passengers opted for ground tour and enjoyed the scenic beauty and cultural heritage of Dakshina Kannada District like the Thousand Pillar Jain temple, monolithic statue of Gomateshwara, Soans Farm, St Aloysius chapel, Kadri temple, Gokarnanatha temple, cashew factory, city shopping etc.
These tourists were taken around by the local ground tour operators, M/s Lia Travels in 40 air conditioned buses. Both the vessels sailed out to Cochin on Monday evening.

[prakmrao]

Did the DCI complete dredging of basin?

[Prasanth_KCV]

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle4178677.ece

Kochi — Key port of call for cruise tourism

December 9, 2012:
A modest initiative more than a decade ago to attract more and more cruise vessels to Kochi has started yielding results now.

Way back in 2001, when the first cruise liner called at Kochi port, the port authorities had laid a good deal of emphasis on providing personal services to those on board. The effort has not been in vain. Today, Kochi is the focus of cruise tourism in India. This has been possible because the port has set new benchmark in providing highly professional services for the country’s other ports to follow.

The initiative included a setting up of a dedicated cruise cell offering single window clearance in presence of the officials of the port, Customs, Immigration and CISF on the one hand and the tourism department, tour operators, vessel agents, stevedores providing labour pool and the taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers, on the other.

No wonder, Kochi has emerged as the country’s most-preferred cruise destination.

To cap it all, the seamless integration of all the Government agencies has been singularly responsible for facilitating novel cruise tourism such as Fly-Cruise-Fly, turnaround operation as well as home porting of cruise vessels at Kochi.

Cruise calls

C. Unnikrishnan Nair, Traffic Manager, Kochi Port Trust, said that the port was virtually in festive mood on hosting nearly 5,000 guests on board German cruise liner, AIDA Diva, which visited Kochi in the last week of November, the third such visit in three years. This was perhaps the highest single aggregation of foreign tourists at any destination for three days.

There has been a steady rise in cruise calls at Kochi — from 36 in 2008-09 to 44 in 2011-12 — and consequently the number of tourists also jumped from 19,264 to 37,201 during the period. The projection is that the number of cruise calls this fiscal will rise to 50. In 2011, state’s coffers became richer by Rs 60 crore thanks to increased earnings from cruise tourism.

Normally cruise operators look for a port which also has a good international airport. Another important factor is the availability of locations of tourist interests, which Kochi can boast of. They also look for efficient customs and immigration clearance systems. All these factors have helped Kochi, he observed.

The port, he pointed out, has hosted six turnarounds of three cruise ships of the AIDA Cruises till date, involving a minimum of 2,500 tourists in each call. The first turnaround was for AIDA Cara in October 2009 and this was followed by two for AIDA Aura (October 2010 and April 2011) and three turnaround operations for AIDA Diva (November 2011, March 2012 and November 2012).

Fillip to tourism

The advantage of turnaround is that they bring in double the number of passengers who can be accommodated in them — those disembarking it and other who embark it afresh. This, in turn, provide added fillip to tourism trade in the region.

The representatives of the management of AIDA Cruises and the crew highly appreciated the cruise facilitation centre and the facilities made available to them. In fact, the cruise facilitation centre has helped them to significantly bring down the turnaround cost as compared to their previous turnaround operations, when they had to set up temporary shamians/tents, he said.

This year Kochi Port hosted AIDA Diva at the newly build cruise facilitation centre, built with the financial support from the Union Tourism Ministry and Kerala Tourism. The facility, set up on 1,600 sq mt area, is fully air-conditioned, with all modern amenities, such as duty-free shops, cafeteria/souvenir shops, customs and immigration clearance facilities and X-ray scanning machines for baggage of embarking and disembarking passengers, among others.

A total of 1,466 disembarkations were smoothly handled. At the last count on November 27, a total of 1,862 tourists had embarked for the fresh sojourn beginning on the next day.

The port put into service the brand new X-ray scanning machine, which facilitated in scanning of over 4,000 baggage of the disembarking and embarking tourists.

With the addition of one more X-ray scanner in the cruise terminal there would be three baggage scanners, including the existing scanning machine provided by the customs.

AIDA Diva will call at Kochi again in March 2013 for the next turnaround.

[psanthosh]

കൊച്ചിക്കടലില്* എണ്ണപടര്*ന്നാല്* 'സമുദ്ര പ്രഹരി' ഓടിയെത്തും

കൊച്ചി: എണ്ണടാങ്കറില്*നിന്നോ അപകടത്തില്*പ്പെടുന്ന കപ്പലുകളില്*നിന്നോ പെട്രോളിയം കൊച്ചി കടലില്* പരന്നാല്* നേരിടാന്* കുറ്റമറ്റ സംവിധാനം തയ്യാര്*. കോസ്റ്റ് ഗാര്*ഡിന്റെ അത്യാധുനിക പരിസ്ഥിതി ശുചീകരണ കപ്പലായ 'സമുദ്ര പ്രഹരി'ന്റെ സേവനം ലഭ്യമാകും. മുംബൈയില്*നിന്നെത്തിച്ച കപ്പലുപയോഗിച്ചുള്ള എണ്ണപ്പാളി നീക്കം ചെയ്യലിന്റെ പരിശീലനവും അഭ്യാസവും വെള്ളിയാഴ്ച കൊച്ചി തുറമുഖത്തുനിന്ന് പന്ത്രണ്ട് നോട്ടിക്കല്* മൈല്* അകലെ പുറംകടലില്* അരങ്ങേറി.

മുന്*വര്*ഷങ്ങളില്* മുംബൈയിലാണ് ഇത്തരം പരിശീലനം നടത്തിയിരുന്നത്. കൊച്ചി തുറമുഖം വഴിയുള്ള പെട്രോളിയം ഇറക്കുമതി കൂടിവരുന്നതും സിംഗിള്* പോയിന്റ് മുറിങ്, എല്*എന്*ജി ടെര്*മിനല്* തുടങ്ങി പെട്രോളിയം ഉത്പന്നങ്ങള്* കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്യുന്ന സംവിധാനങ്ങള്* വരുന്നതും പരിഗണിച്ചാണ് പരിശീലനത്തിന് കൊച്ചി വേദിയായത്.

അപകടത്തില്*പ്പെടുന്ന കപ്പലിനു ചുറ്റും റബ്ബര്*കൊണ്ടുള്ള പ്രത്യേക വലവിരിച്ച് എണ്ണപ്പാട പടരുന്നത് തടയാനും കപ്പലിനോ എണ്ണപ്പാടയേ്ക്കാ തീപിടിച്ചാല്* അണയ്ക്കാനുള്ള സൗകര്യങ്ങള്* 'സമുദ്ര പ്രഹരി'യിലുണ്ട്. കടല്*പ്പരപ്പില്*നിന്ന് എണ്ണപ്പാളി അരിച്ചുമാറ്റുവാനും രാസവസ്തു തളിച്ച് എണ്ണയെ നിര്*വീര്യമാക്കുവാനും സംവിധാനമുണ്ട്. ഈ ഇനത്തില്* ഇന്ത്യ സ്വന്തമാക്കിയ ആദ്യ കപ്പലാണിത്.

സമുദ്ര പ്രഹരിക്കൊപ്പം കോസ്റ്റ് ഗാര്*ഡിന്റെ എട്ട് ചെറുകപ്പലുകളും ഷിപ്പിങ് കോര്*പ്പറേഷന്റെ എണ്ണ ടാങ്കറായ 'എംവി മോട്ടിലാല്* നെഹ്*റുവും' ചേര്*ന്നാണ് അഭ്യാസം നടത്തിയത്. ടാങ്കര്* അപകടത്തില്*പ്പെടുന്നതും അതില്*നിന്ന് എണ്ണ കടലില്* പടരുന്നതും എണ്ണപ്പാടയ്ക്ക് തീപിടിക്കുന്നതും കൃത്രിമമായി സൃഷ്ടിച്ചായിരുന്നു പരിശീലനം. നാല് ഹെലികോപ്റ്ററുകളും രണ്ട് ഡോണിയര്* വിമാനങ്ങളും പങ്കെടുത്തു.

സമുദ്ര പ്രഹരി മുംബൈയിലാണ് താവളമടിക്കുക. കോസ്റ്റ്ഗാര്*ഡിന്റെ കൊച്ചിയിലെ ചില കപ്പലുകളിലും തീയണയ്ക്കല്* പോലെയുള്ള അടിയന്തര ഘട്ടങ്ങള്* നേരിടാനുള്ള സംവിധാനങ്ങള്* ഒരുക്കിയിട്ടുണ്ട്. മറ്റൊരു പരിസ്ഥിതി ശുചീകരണ കപ്പലായ 'സമുദ്ര പ്രഹരിദേവ്' ചെന്നൈയിലും താവളമടിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. മൂന്നാമതൊരെണ്ണം നിര്*മാണത്തിലാണ്. അടുത്തവര്*ഷം പകുതിയോടെ ഇത് ഗുജറാത്തിലെ പോര്*ബന്തര്* കോസ്റ്റ് ഗാര്*ഡ് കേന്ദ്രത്തില്* സേവനത്തിനായി ചേരും.

കോസ്റ്റ് ഗാര്*ഡ് ഡയറക്ടര്* വൈസ് അഡ്മിറല്* എം.പി. മുരളീധരന്*, റീജിയണല്* ഡയറക്ടര്* സതീഷ് ചന്ദ്രന്*, കമാന്*ഡര്* എസ്.പി എസ്. ബസ്ര തുടങ്ങിയവര്* അഭ്യാസ പ്രകടനങ്ങള്* വിലയിരുത്തി.

http://www.mathrubhumi.com/online/ma...2-12-15/kerala

[DileepKS]

വല്ലാർപാടത്തിനു കബോട്ടാഷ് വ്യവസ്ഥയിൽ ഇളവ്

ന്യൂഡൽഹി. വല്ലാർപാടം കണ്ടെയ്നർ ടെർമിനലിനു കബോട്ടാഷ ്നിയമത്തിൽ ഇളവ്. മർച്ചന്റ് ഷിപ്പിങ് നിയമത്തിന്റെ 407-ാം വകുപ്പ് പ്രകാരമുള്ള ഇളവുകളാണ് വല്ലാർപാടത്തിന് അനുവദിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നത്.

ടെർമിനലിലെത്തുന്ന എല്ലാ കണ്ടെയ്നറുകളും റേഡിയോളജിക്കൽ സ്കാനിങ്ങിന് വിധേയമാക്കണമെന്ന നിബന്ധനയോടെയാണ് ഇളവ് അനുവദിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നത്. കയറ്റിറക്കുമതി മേഖലയ്ക്ക് ഏറെ സഹായകരമാണ് ഈ നീക്കം. വല്ലാർപാടത്തെത്തുന്ന മദർഷിപ്പുകളിലെ കണ്ടെയ്നറുകൾ ചെറിയ കപ്പലുകളിൽ രാജ്യത്തെ മറ്റു തുറമുഖങ്ങളിലേക്ക് മാറ്റാൻ ഈ ഇളവിലൂടെ സാധ്യമാകും. കബോട്ടാഷ് നിയമത്തിൽ ഇളവ് അനുവദിച്ചതോടെ വല്ലാർപാടം കണ്ടെയ്നർ ടെർമിനലിന്റെ ശേഷി പൂർണരീതിയിൽ ഉപയോഗപ്പെടുത്താനാകും.

പ്രതിരോധമന്ത്രാലയത്തിന്റെ അനുമതി ലഭിക്കാത്തതിനാലാണു കേന്ദ്ര കപ്പൽ ഗതാഗതമന്ത്രാലയം വല്ലാർപാടത്തിന് ഇളവ് അനുവദിക്കാതിരുന്നത്. സുരക്ഷാകാരണങ്ങളാൽ വല്ലാർപാടത്തെത്തുന്ന കണ്ടെയ്നറുകൾ എക്സ് റേ സ്കാനിങ്ങിന് വിധേയമാക്കണമെന്നായിരുന്നു പ്രതിരോധമന്ത്രാലയം നേരത്തെ നിർദേശിച്ചിരുന്നത്. ഇത് ഏറെ സമയമെടുക്കുന്ന പ്രക്രിയ ആയതിനാലാണ് റേഡിയോളജിക്കൽ സ്കാനിങ്ങ് മതി എന്ന ഇപ്പോഴത്തെ ഇളവ്. വല്ലാർപാടത്ത് ഇതിനോടകം തന്നെ റെഡിയോളജിക്കൽ സ്കാനിങ്ങിനുള്ള സൌകര്യമേർപ്പെടുത്തിക്കഴിഞ്ഞതായി കൊച്ചി തുറമുഖ അധികൃതർ അറിയിച്ചു.

ചരക്കുകപ്പൽ നിയമത്തിലെ ഒരു വ്യവസ്ഥയാണു കബോട്ടാഷ്. ഇതനുസരിച്ചു വിദേശ കപ്പലിന് ഇന്ത്യയിലെ രണ്ടു തുറമുഖങ്ങൾക്കിടയ്ക്കു ചരക്കു ഗതാഗതം നടത്താനാവില്ല. വിദേശ കപ്പൽ ഒരു തുറമുഖത്തിൽ ചരക്ക് ഇറക്കിക്കഴിഞ്ഞാൽപ്പിന്നെ ഇന്ത്യയിലെ മറ്റു തുറമുഖങ്ങളിലേക്കു കൊണ്ടുപോകാൻ ഇന്ത്യൻ കപ്പലുകൾക്കേ കഴിയൂ. ഇതിനാണ് ഇപ്പോൾ ഇളവ് നൽകിയിരിക്കുന്നത്.

കബോട്ടാഷ് ഇളവുചെയ്തതോടെ വിദേശ കപ്പലുകൾ വല്ലാർപാടത്തു വന്നശേഷം സിംഗപ്പൂർ, കൊളംബോ, സലാല, ദുബായ് തുടങ്ങിയ തുറമുഖങ്ങളിലേക്കു പോകും. പ്രതിവർഷം 800 കപ്പലുകളാണു വല്ലാർപാടത്ത് എത്തുന്നത്. കബോട്ടാഷ് ഒഴിവായതോടെ ഇതു രണ്ടായിരമാകും.

വ്യാപാരമേഖലയെ സംബന്ധിച്ചിടത്തോളം ഏറെ നിർണായകമാണ് കബോട്ടാഷ് നിയമത്തിലെ ഇളവ്. ട്രാൻസ്ഷിപ്മെന്റ് സൌകര്യമുള്ള കൊളംബോ തുറമുഖത്തെ ഒഴിവാക്കി വല്ലാർപാടത്തെ പ്രയോജനപ്പെടുത്താൻ സാധിക്കുന്നതോടെ കണ്ടെയ്നർ നീക്കത്തിൽ ഏഴു ദിവസം വരെ ലാഭിക്കാനാകും. ഒരു കണ്ടെയ്നറിന് 15,000 രൂപവരെ സാമ്പത്തിക ലാഭവും പ്രതീക്ഷിക്കാം. കബോട്ടാഷ് നിബന്ധനകൾ മൂലം വല്ലാർപാടത്തിന്റെ 30 ശതമാനം ശേഷി മാത്രമേ നിലവിൽ പ്രയോജനപ്പെടുത്താൻ സാധിച്ചിരുന്നുള്ളൂ. പ്രതിവർഷം മൂന്നുലക്ഷം കണ്ടെയ്നറുകൾ എന്ന നിലവിലെ സ്ഥിതിയിൽ നിന്ന് എട്ടു ലക്ഷം കണ്ടെയ്നറുകൾ കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്യാനുള്ള അവസരമാണ് വല്ലാർപാടത്തിന് ലഭിക്കുന്നത്

[Malayaali]

Great news Looking forward to the numbers here on.

[psanthosh]

Big boost for Vallarpadam terminal business

Cabotage law relaxed, but time-consuming radiological scanning must for all foreign vessel containers

The Union Ministry of Shipping has relaxed the Cabotage restrictions for transhipment of export-import containers at the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT).

Cabotage relates to the right to operate sea, air, or other transport services within a particular territory (see inset).

This relaxation is subject to 100 per cent radiological scanning of containers. Also, the security procedures in compliance with applicable regulations of International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code and existing Union government instructions should have to be followed. The Cochin Port Trust has already established 100% radiological scanning facility. The terminal is currently under Level 2 of the ISPS Code with its security entrusted with the armed constabulary of Central Industrial Security Force, according to a press release from the trust.

Those involved with the trade have welcomed the announcement of the Shipping Ministry and feel that services through the terminal will be able to compete effectively with neighbouring transhipment hubs.

Export-import trade in India would benefit from this development by reduction in transit times up to seven days and reduction in international freight up to $300 per container, the release said.

The Indian container traffic has seen a steady growth over the years. Despite this, more than half of the container traffic of India is being transshipped at ports outside India mainly at Colombo, Singapore, Salalah and Jebel Ali. This is because India had no port near international sea routes to handle large mainline vessels. Cochin Port enjoys nearly the same location advantage as Colombo port with a mere 76 nautical miles deviation from the main East-West shipping route. To attract mainline vessels for transshipment of Indian containers at ICTT, Vallarpadam, the Cabotage Policy has been relaxed.

Colombo Port handles a transhipment throughput of 2 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEU) from India. However, the ICTT is currently doing only a meagre transhipment business of 20,000 TEUs a year. This is expected to go up significantly with the relaxation of the law.

This relaxation in Cabotage Policy will be subject to review after three years.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...cle4228602.ece

[Kochi Resident]

Good news for Kochi

[mohammedirshad06]

Another BIG GOOD NEWS

Cochin Port nearing to achieve the targeted 14.5 M depth for Kochi Harbour Channel

The channel is able to achieved this depth, nearing to a 5 storied bldg. CPT says, they are able to get lot of enquires from major shipping lines for deploying Motherships, especially in context the ICTT got Cabotage waiver.

[Malayaali]

Kerala may become LPG surplus state by 2015

KOCHI: Two oil companies have rolled out projects to make Kerala a surplus liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) state by 2015.

The projects, being undertaken by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and BPCL Kochi Refinery, are expected make available about 1,700 TMT (thousand metric tonnes) of LPG in the state. The current requirement is 720 MT, even though 92% of households in the state have gas connections.

The IOC director board, in a recent meeting, cleared the proposal to set up an LPG importation terminal at Puthuvypeen near here. It is expected that the Rs 600-crore terminal, with a capacity to store 600 TMT of LPG, would go on stream in 24 months, IOC sources in Mumbai said over the telephone. LPG will be imported here from other countries

The Rs 20,000-crore Integrated Refinery Expansion Project (IREP) of the BPCL Kochi refinery is expected to yield 1,100 TMT of LPG a year. The project is likely to go on stream by end-2015.

"We intend to put up pipelines to take surplus LPG from here to Coimbatore,'' said John Minu Mathew, executive director, BPCL Kochi Refinery.

The IOC official also said the oil major will supply surplus gas from the proposed terminal to adjoining areas in Tamil Nadu. "The supply for the entire state of Kerala will be sourced from the terminal,'' he said.

Though Kerala's LPG demand a month is 60 TMT, the BPCL Kochi Refinery, the only one in the state, has a capacity of only 45 TMT. It is also supplying nearly six TMT of LPG to other states, according to a national-level product exchange agreement with other oil companies. The state is now sourcing 21 TMT LPG every month from refineries in states such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

LPG from other states is brought here by bullet tankers, which are posing a threat on Kerala's narrow roads. A recent accident involving such a tanker in Chala, Kannur, claimed 20 lives. The commissioning of the two projects is likely to reduce the transport of gas through roads.

The IOC board has also ratified the understanding arrived with the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) on setting up a jetty for super gas tankers. The jetty, expected to cost about Rs 170 crores, will be constructed by the CPT.

"The construction of the jetty and LPG terminal will go on simultaneously,'' the IOC official said.

[Kochi Resident]

Lets keep our fingers crossed. Hope everything above happens as expected. If so it will change the entire face of Kochi. It will become the fourth metro of the South.

[Malayaali]

Originally Posted by Kochi Resident

It will become the fourth metro of the South.

I guess there ain't competitors either

[Kochi Resident]

I guess there is Coimbatore, Vizag (which has lots of industries), Mysore and Mangalore( which is making rapid progress in IT)

Originally Posted by Malayaali

I guess there ain't competitors either

[Malayaali]

Well, i have my reservations for each of those. Don't want to start another comparison here, EOD!

[Kochi Resident]

Thats fine. But anyways no offence meant to other cities, Kochi is making rapid progress in IT(Infopark Phase II not to mention Smart City because we know its fate now), Healthcare(Aster Medicity), Port and allied activities( Vallarpadam terminal, LNG terminal and other related projects) Infrastructure(metro rail)

Also with the building of new international terminal air traffic is bound to increase

But another thing we need to worry about is the world economy which is often unpredictable and the change of government after 3 or 4 years. Because as per Kerala politics for every 5 year of congress there will be a communist rule. If Communist govt come into power everything will be in doldrums. So hope maximum development happens in the next two to three years because after that there will be a development holiday for 5 years .

Availability of power and scanty rainfall is also a matter of concern.

Originally Posted by Malayaali

Well, i have my reservations for each of those. Don't want to start another comparison here, EOD!

[mohammedirshad06]

Originally Posted by Kochi Resident

Thats fine. But anyways no offence meant to other cities, Kochi is making rapid progress in IT(Infopark Phase II not to mention Smart City because we know its fate now), Healthcare(Aster Medicity), Port and allied activities( Vallarpadam terminal, LNG terminal and other related projects) Infrastructure(metro rail)

Also with the building of new international terminal air traffic is bound to increase

But another thing we need to worry about is the world economy which is often unpredictable and the change of government after 3 or 4 years. Because as per Kerala politics for every 5 year of congress there will be a communist rule. If Communist govt come into power everything will be in doldrums. So hope maximum development happens in the next two to three years because after that there will be a development holiday for 5 years .

Availability of power and scanty rainfall is also a matter of concern.

To be honest, in Kerala politics, both Left and Right are almost same.... The policies are rarely revised, rather only continued.... Say, we had seen an Achuamma crying so much against TECOM with full conviction that they are not geninue company... Yet, when he came to power, he never decided to change them, even though he always mentioned that......

Likewise UDF always was critic of many LDF things like giving HMT to Cyberpark or to Windmill company... Yet nothing changed when they came to power.... So we don't have any issue of policy swift...

The issue which Kerala faces is lack of good strong visionary leadership, who can plan things and do it, facing all obstacles.... We have both UDF and LDF leaders coming and announcing thousands projects... One or two many work out... Rest all go into dust-bins, as none have good spines to implement the projects with guts....

Say the example of HSR... Left only proposed it and worked for its initial things.... Now UDF simply followed what Left said and both joined hands for the project... Yet just fearing a few opposition from land owners, we see both going silent....

Unless we get someone like Modi, who has some spine to work for our development and vision, we cannot think anything bigger.... Thanks for private initiatives, which anyway happens, whether the politicians do or not....