Cochin Port Joint Trade Union Forum has urged the port management to prepare a master plan foreseeing the next 25 years with a focus on maximising the revenue from the assets created on the port’s land.
The master plan should concentrate on restoring the past glory of Willingdon Island through reactivation of port activities, maximising revenue streams to the port by optimising the use of projects in Puthuvypeen and Vallarpadam area.
The appeal of the port unions assumes greater significance at a time when the Kerala Government is gearing up for the official commissioning of Vizhinjam Container Terminal and the emerging challenges to be faced by Cochin Port by way of a possible shift in container cargo to the newly developed port by Adani Group.
In a representation, P. M. Mohammed Haneef, chairman and C. D. Nandakumar, general convenor of the Joint Trade Union Forum pointed out that both Vallarpadam Terminal and Vizhinjam Port can work hand-in-hand for which a model strategy has to be evolved for the benefit of both the projects.
The leaders called upon the port management to ask the terminal operator DP World in Vallarpadam to evolve strategies urgently to tackle business challenges caused to container terminal in Kochi from Vizhinjam Port.
The Union also demanded actions to rationalise terminal handling charges at International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) to attract more cargo in a competitive environment. Port users are complaining on higher THC at ICTT compared to neighbouring ports. With the commissioning of Vizhinjam Terminal, the leaders said that ICTT would be unattractive to shipping lines in the era of competition.
The trade union leaders also sought a supplementary agreement with the terminal operator incorporating a minimum guaranteed throughput of 15 lakh TEUs per annum before planning any further deepening of the channel from the present 14.5 metres. Cochin Port is liable to provide a draught of 14.5 metres as per the license agreement.
On the LNG terminal, the trade union leaders said that the management should prepare an action plan jointly with the Petronet LNG Ltd for the optimum utilisation of this facility. The present utilisation of the terminal is hardly 1 million tonnes against the installed capacity of 5 million tonnes ever since its commissioning in 2013. With the completion of pipeline connectivity, there is much scope and potential for augmenting the capacity of the terminal considering the industrial demand for green energy.
