VOC Port poised to handle more container cargo

MADURAI: The Thoothukudi based VO Chidambaranar Port in Tamil Nadu is poised to become the most preferred seaport for container cargo.

The VOC Port Authority has initiated timely action to develop infrastructure required to handle the latest and future container vessels of capacity 22000-24000 TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) to improve the container traffic through the Port by attracting transshipment traffic.

This new move would help improve the volume of trade and cut the additional logistics cost incurred on the Indian Exim cargo at the transshipment hub ports located in the other nations at Asian region, JP Joe Villavarayar, secretary, Association for Tuticorin Hub Port Development, said.

Thanks to its advantageous conditions, he said adding that this Port is strategically located on the south of Indian peninsula and close to the international sea route (about 90 nautical miles). More importantly, the Port serves the Exim trade efficiently at competitive cost with the use of ultra-modern technology in filing the export general manifest (EGM) and also in availing the duty drawback to get full benefit of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ (EoDB).

Adding to its attraction, he said this Port has a natural advantage to work round the clock, as it’s the safe location protected by the landmass on the west and the Sri Lankan Island on the east. Unlike other ports, the one-time capital dredging at the VOC Port would sustain the Port’s depth forever without the need for maintenance dredging in the future, Villavarayar told DT Next.

With all its advantages of the much sought after Port connectivity, the well-established port ecosystem, availability of efficient workforce and peaceful working atmosphere is on the forefront to offer cost-effective and value added services to its exporters and importers.

The facility of deep-sea container berth planned at VOC Port is likely to change the course of the international shipping lines and make this seaport the most preferred ‘International Transshipment Port’ in the region in the coming years, he said.

T Velshankar, president, Tuticorin Stevedores Association, said with all the above desirable factors to come up, the VOC Port could well compete with Colombo seaport, Sri Lanka in terms of capacity, cost and quality.

Currently, the Thoothukudi seaport has 14.8m of draft and it needs to be further dredged to 16m. He also added that the seaport’s development should go hand in hand with a rich hinterland as envisaged. If the VOC Port is developed much on expected lines, it would attract more containerized cargo. Moreover, the stakeholders should get a feel for a suitable industrial climate in the Port city of Thoothukudi to generate enough cargo traffic, Velshankar added.

SKSCN Dharmaraj, former chairman of CII, Thoothukudi, said the seaports in Chennai became more congested and therefore the development of VOC Port is inevitable.