Danish integrated logistics company Maersk said it expects to clear some 2,847 Nepal-bound cargo containers stranded for more than 30 days at Visakhapatnam Port within the “next seven days with support from rail partners”.
In an advisory to the trade on Tuesday, Maersk said it has decided to restrict short-term bookings for Nepal from “Middle East origins for the rest of February”.
It has further decided to divert cargo to Kolkata/ Haldia ports to ensure delivery, minimising delays, besides holding regular interactions with rail partners to augment capacity and to look at alternate modes of transport, Maersk said in the advisory.
Nepal-bound cargo containers piled up at Visakhapatnam Port after the Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor) cut train services drastically to Birganj inland container depot (ICD), the only rail-linked dry port in the land-locked nation.
The Birgunj ICD is Nepal’s key Customs facility for handling third country imports and is also considered the lifeline for its trade and industry.
Amendment to rail services pact
The development is the fall-out of an amendment last June to the Rail Services Agreement (RSA) signed between India and Nepal in 2004. The amendment allowed “any other authorised cargo train operators licensed by the Indian Railways or privately-owned wagons approved by the Indian Railways under any train operator or wagon investment schemes,” to ply between the two nations carrying cargo. The amendment effectively ended Concor’s 15-year monopoly on the sector.
To retain business, Concor cut rates by some 35 per cent from September 15 last year for hauling import containers landing at Visakhapatnam, Haldia and Kolkata ports and bound for Nepal.
The move triggered a rate war among container train operators and led Nepalese importers to shift 20-30 per cent of the business to non-Concor entities.
The market leader in container train operations then started pulling out trains from the circuit from December, hurting the movement of containers from Visakhapatnam to Birgunj, trade sources said.
“More than 2,000 cargo containers have been lying at Visakhapatnam Port for over a month,” said an official with knowledge of the matter.
“We are not sure about the real reasons for the delay. But, according to information received from stake holders, Concor is not providing sufficient rakes, which has led to a pendency of 45-60 days,” said Ashish Lath, Secretary at the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
Concor used to ply close to 20 trains a month on the sector, which has been scaled down to four-six trains since early December.
“Around 400 containers of mine are stuck at Vizag port for the last 40 days,” said a top importer in Nepal.
Concor, though, has denied cutting down the number of trains from Vizag to Birgunj ICD.
“We have not reduced the number of trains. Whatever containers are nominated to Concor by the shipping lines, we are evacuating. Beyond that, we can’t do anything,” a Concor official said, asking not to be named.
“If containers are not nominated to Concor, how we can help,” he said, noting that there was “no question of reducing the rakes”.
“Why should we reduce the rakes? We are not doing any charity, we are doing business. Why are lines not handing over containers to Concor? Whatever containers are landing at Vizag, lines have to nominate Concor for carriage. We have not refused anything,” the official said.
“When my trains are waiting there in Visakhapatnam, if they don’t nominate Concor for carriage, what are we supposed to do. Are we supposed to wait outside the gates of the port hoping that somebody will come and give me containers. For how long? I am here to do business, I am not here to do any charity. Then, why should my trains idle,” he added.
To ease the backlog and facilitate the trade, three private container train operators have got together and arranged right trains to ply on the sector.
“Looking at Maersk’s advisory on Tuesday, things will get better now, but whatever has happened since December has created this backlog,” the Nepalese importer mentioned earlier said.
Source : The Hindu Businessline
