KOCHI: The long-pending dream of introducing a regular container barge service between Cochin Port and Kottayam Port will be a reality with the service between the two ports via National Waterways-3 and National Waterways-9 to commence from Friday. A meeting was convened by A V Ramana, chairman (incharge), Cochin Port Trust, on Tuesday with officers from the Customs Department and representatives from Kottayam Port, IGTPL, Shipping Lines, Customs Brokers & other stakeholders to finalise the arrangements for a regular container barge service.
‘The barge service will help reduce carbon footprint and cost for first and last mile connectivity thereby fulfilling the objective of the ‘Sagarmala’ programme of the Ministry of Shipping, said Ramana. The declaration of Kodoor River as the national waterway and more than five years’ experience in Customs clearance will be added advantage for the Kottayam Port as it will cut the logistics cost by 40-50 per cent, according to reports.]
The Kottayam Port, which is a private-public participation project, was commissioned in December 2009.
Cochin Port achieves highest monthly throughput in February
Kochi: The Cochin Port has achieved a monthly throughput of 2.95 MMT in February, the highest ever in a month. On March 2, Cochin Port surpassed the previous highest annual throughput of 29.138 MMT achieved in 2017-18. With 29 days left for 2018-19, a new high in cargo handling will be scaled to set a new record, the port said. The port has also achieved the total throughput of 29.10 MMT in 2018-19 (Apr-Feb) with 9.5 per cent growth over the corresponding period of 2017-18. Port Of Loading throughput reached 19.41 MMT and container throughput reached 5.37 lakh TEUs in 2018-19 (April-Feb).