India Seatrade, the premier organizer of shipping and logistics conferences in India, has organized the 10th edition of Coastal Multimodal Logistics Summit 2024 at Hotel Vivanta, Kochi on 9th August 2024.
It is organized in partnership with the Inland Water Transportation Authority of India, The Sagarmala Project and the Ministry of Ports Shipping & Waterways.
This being the 10th successful edition of this Business Summit, India Seatrade once again aimed to achieve cohesion among the policymakers, coastal shipping industry experts, service providers and users in affirming the potential of this mode of transport and creating a business environment that excels with policy intervention and active industry promotion.
The Summit comprised of two focussed business sessions followed by a plenary session that explored inherent business opportunities & challenges, strategies for integrating coastal shipping with PPP port projects, addressing first and last-mile connectivity issues, and adopting global best practices to enhance efficiency and sustainability in the maritime sector.
The event was attended by coastal shipping lines, coastal forwarders, cargo owners, industry experts worldwide, policymakers, and government representatives from the Ministry of Ports Shipping and Waterways.
The plenary session was attended by eminent personalities from the shipping and logistics fraternity including Mr. N. S. Pillai, IA&AS, Retd., Chairman, Kerala Maritime Board, Mr. Venkatesapathy, IAS, Director, Ministry of Ports Shipping & Waterways, Government of India., Mr. Gurkaran Singh Bains, IRS, Commissioner, Cochin Customs Commissionerate, Dr. Divya S Iyer, IAS, Managing Director, Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd. and Mr. Shitesh Ranjan, Deputy Director General, Directorate General of Shipping, Government of India, and Mr. K. Mohandas, IAS Retd., Chairman, India Seatrade.
Mr. K. Mohandas said that coastal shipping movement must be seen as a movement of cargo within the country just like air cargo. Liberal policies must be brought in to encourage this industry and improve its share of volume in the overall transportation mix.
Mr. N.S. Pillai reiterated his commitment to develop the currently operational minor ports of Kerala including Vizhinjam, Kollam, Beypore, Azhikkal, for coastal cargo movement and feeder operations and transform them into bustling ports.
Mr. Venkatesapathy elaborated on the various reforms that the shipping ministry is currently working on. This includes offering benefits to shipowners and shipbuilders in shipbuilding, deploying green tugs at ports to reduce the carbon footprint, and bringing in foreign companies to invest in inland water transport.
Ms.Divya Iyer spoke about the ongoing development of Vizhinjam International Sea Port, including its Phase-1 progress, handling of the first mother vessel in July and details about Phase-2 development. This port will have a capacity of handling 1 million TEUs per annum upon completion of Phase-1.
Mr. Shitesh Ranjan threw light on various opportunities for coastal shipping, possible ways and means to increase coastal shipping volumes through support from PSUs, and GST rebates/waivers among others.
Mr. Gurkaran Singh reaffirmed that Customs is not an impediment to coastal shipping and has no role to play in this domain since the change of laws in 2016.
The discussions generated a lot of recommendations from the speakers and delegates to the government and policymakers. India Seatrade is in the process of compiling them and preparing a consolidated report of these recommendations. The report will be submitted shortly to the Ministry of Ports Shipping & Waterways as well as other government agencies for their necessary action.
