[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Kandla International Container Terminal (KICT), a new terminal developed by the J. M. Baxi Group at Kandla Port, celebrated its first vessel call of Oshairij on Saturday, February 4, 2017. The event was graced by Mr Ravi Parmar, IAS, Chairman of Kandla Port Trust (KPT), as the Chief Guest, said a KPT release.
Symbolic exchange of plaques between Mr Dhruv Kotak (Joint MD, J. M. Baxi Group) and Mr Jan Mortensen, VP, Container Shipping, Qatar Navigation (Milaha), marked the agreement for the weekly service, which is the first direct common carrier feeder service between Saudi Arabia and India. The frequency of this first-of-its-kind Kandla Dammam Express service will be weekly and it connects Kandla Port directly with Jebel Ali in Dubai, and Dammam and Jubail in Saudi Arabia. The service is being offered by Milaha.
Also present on the occasion were Mr George Abrao of Poseidon Shipping Agency Pvt. Ltd, which represents Milaha in India as general agent, Mr Varghese Thomas of Milaha Dubai, as well as officials of V. Arjoon Group which facilitated the transportation of containers. The Fairdeal Freight Solutions CFS was also involved in the operation.
Mr Ravi Parmar had shown keen interest in developing the public-private partnership with J. M. Baxi, and assured to extend full support and provide a conducive environment for the trade. He expressed the hope that KICT would not only achieve the MGT but also the desired capacity to become a major player in the container business.
Mr Dhruv Kotak assured to provide the maritime industry a terminal at Kandla with state-of-art infrastructure, and stressed that there would be rapid growth in services from Kandla to other parts of the world and in India.
The event, which was followed by a networking lunch, saw overwhelming participation from the trade. Representatives of the maritime industry in Kandla, including shipping agency houses, NVOCC, liners, CHAs and freight forwarders, lauded the efforts of the J. M. Baxi Group in providing such a terminal to Kandla.
The inaugural function was attended by, among others, Mr Mohan Aswani, Labour Trustee, HODs, viz. Mr Bimal Jha, Secretary, Capt. T. Srinivasa, Deputy Conservator, Capt. Mathew, Harbour Master and other senior officers of Kandla Port Trust.
Milaha appreciated the support extended by the trade for the initiative taken by it to launch this unique service. It also congratulated Bay Line for loading the highest containers on the first vessel.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
