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The first coastal movement by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), as part of the government’s initiative to boost coastal shipping under Sagarmala, arrived at Cochin Port on November 12, 2017.
Shreyas Shipping’s M.V. Sabarimalai, the coastal cargo vessel carrying 5,000 tonnes of steel products of RINL, arrived at Cochin from Visakhapatnam. This was the first steel consignment moved by RINL through the coastal route from its Visakhapatnam plant. Till date, for distribution in and around Kerala, the company used to bring its consignments by rail to its stock yard.
On arrival, the Master of the vessel was welcomed by the Port’s Traffic Manager, in the presence of other Port officials and representatives from RINL Cochin, Shreyas Shipping and the stevedore. The arrival of the first consignment at Cochin emphasised the effort of the marketing team of the Port, which had been in discussions with the RINL authorities for more than a year.
It may be recalled that on October 31, 2017, the Union Ministers of Shipping and Steel had jointly flagged off this first coastal consignment of RINL’s Visakhapatnam plant at Visakhapatnam Port. The ship sailed from Visakhapatnam Port on November 8 and reached Cochin on November 12.
It is expected that coastal shipping will play a key role in the growth of the steel sector in the county as the resultant reduced logistics cost will give a competitive advantage to the industry.
As per current plans, around 10,000 tonnes of RINL steel is expected every month. Other companies like SAIL and Jindal are also expected to start similar movements in future, adding to the cargo volumes of the Port.
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