July 30, 2020: The Cochin Port Trust and Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) flagged off the first containerised consignment of fertilisers via coastal shipping from Kochi to Haldia in West Bengal on Tuesday. The public sector fertiliser producer has been planning to look beyond the south of India and to enter the eastern markets as part of its plans to build a pan-India presence.
The company has been planning to market ammonium sulphate in West Bengal and looking for a viable mode of transport. It was at this point that the Cochin Port stepped in and offered a solution by way of coastal shipping which has advantages like avoidance of multiple handling and elimination of any contamination and pilferage.
The first 20 TEUs, 560 tonnes of the cargo, are being shipped using MV SSL Visakhapatnam operated by Shreyas Shipping and Logistics. The containers were jointly flagged off by M. Beena, chairperson, Cochin Port, and Kishor Rungta, CMD, FACT.
Source: The Hindu