New CFS in India

Cochin Port’s Vallarpadam International Container Transhipment Terminal (VICTT) has recorded an average of 30 container moves per crane per hour in 2015. After receiving criticism within India for a perceived slow start since it began operations in 2011, the DP World-operated facility has also reported an 11% increase in vessel calls over the past 12 months, including 58 calls in October 2015, compared with 43 in October 2014.

DP World and India’s state-run Kochi Port Trust (KPT) have begun talks with global container shipping lines to attract services to the Vallarpadam International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) at Kochi port.

Almost 11 months after it opened, India’s first dedicated container transhipment terminal at Vallarpadam in Kochi port is bogged down by archaic policies and lack of government clearances that are preventing it from functioning as a regional hub.

Construction work on the first phase of the Vizhinjam International Deepsea Container Terminal, 16 km from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of India’s Kerala state, will begin in a few months, Port Minister K Babu said.

After some initial teething troubles, container operations are gathering momentum at DP World’s new Vallarpadam International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) in Kochi, which officially opened for business in February.

After giving the nod to Chennai Port Trust (CPT) to build a US$796M mega container terminal, India’s Shipping Ministry has announced plans to give a big push to containerisation and to increase handling capacity at the nation’s ports.