KOCHI: Giving a jolt to Kerala’s efforts to present a business friendly face, car carrier MV Dresden decided not to call at Cochin Port due to the prevailing labour dispute here. The ship was supposed to call in at Kochi on Saturday with 750 cars. However, the cars were not even loaded at Ennore, Gujarat, the mother port, because of the labour issues in Kochi.
The ship is now asking for confirmation on resolving the issue before calling at Kochi on the return trip from Kandla on October 28. The setback came just a day after a report revealed that Cochin Port has recorded a 5.24 per cent increase in cargo while handling 11.9 metric tonnes in the first six months of the 2016-17 financial year. Dresden had made two visits to Kochi - on September 26 and in the first week of October. Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari had witnessed the unloading of the cars in September.
“The skipping of the call of the car carrier, Dresden, scheduled at Kochi on October 22 is confirmed. The ship had 750 cars booked for Kochi. They were not loaded at Ennore due to labour disputes here. The ship is asking for confirmation on resolving the issue before coming to Kochi on the return trip from Kandla on October 28,” Jimmy George, traffic manager, Cochin Port, told Express.
The car carrier had called at the port from Ennore in the circuit of Ennore-Kochi-Kandla-Kochi-Ennore connecting the automobile production hubs in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Haryana. “Logistically it makes sense to call at Cochin Port. But a delay in delivery will be costly for the companies as customers will not tolerate it. Hence, we decided not to call at Kochi till the labour dispute is solved. We have to get an assurance from the labour unions before taking a decision on diverting the cargo to Kochi,” said Capt Ramesh K N, president of SICAL, the company that operates the vehicle carrier.
Terming the car carrier as ‘essential’, John Paul, managing director, Popular Automobiles termed the issue unfortunate. “There is no need for headload workers to unload the car. If similar number of cars are to be transported via road at least 100 trucks are required. Considering the traffic, time and environmental aspects moving cars through the sea is the best option,” he said.