The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) has agreed to fund a Rs300 Cr under the Sagarmala initiative to dredge the International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam operated by DP World in Cochin Port. The terminal channel is being dredged to deepen it from 14.5 meters to 16 meters, which is expected to take about an year. The move to deepen ICTT Vallarpadam is a consorted effort by both the Cochin Port Authority and the central government to attract more of transhipment cargo to the Indian coast. About 3 million teus of Indian origin cargo is transhipped through Colombo Port, entailing extra time and cost for the export/import community.
Previously, the port authority offered concession in vessel related charges to container ships based on the number of calls they made in a year. Vessel- related charges comprise port dues, berth hire and pilotage and are collected by the port authority.
The new discount scheme will support even ad-hoc calls made by mainline ship operators at ICTT by skipping Colombo, which were not eligible for the rebate under earlier scheme.
