KOCHI: The DP World-operated India Gateway Terminal Pvt Ltd (IGTPL) at Vallarpadam set a new monthly container handling record by crossing the 50,000-TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) mark for the first time in August this year. The achievement also reflects a 16 per cent growth in IGTPL’s monthly container handling figures compared to August, 2016. Besides, IGTPL also achieved a ‘gross crane rate’ (GCR) of over 30 moves per hour and a truck turnaround time of 26 minutes gate-to-gate, which is “in line with the best in international industry standards,” said a statement from DP World. The terminal in August also successfully hosted more than a thousand mainline vessels since its inception in 2011 connecting Kochi with crucial international ports across the globe, the statement said.
“The record-breaking numbers have been achieved by the aggressive marketing efforts undertaken by the Terminal and the Cochin Port Trust,” it said. Jibu Kurien Itty, CEO, DP World Cochin, said IGTPL has substantially strengthened trade in the region with better transit via Kochi on mother vessels, helping customers reach markets faster and reducing working capital requirements. “We facilitated trade by providing faster transit times and best in-class services to our customers,” he said.
IGTPL has direct mainline vessels connecting ports in the Far East, Australia, Southeast Asia, Europe, The Mediterranean and West Asia. The terminal has three weekly sailings to West Asia, one to the Far East and one to Europe and the Mediterranean. In addition, IGTPL has four weekly sailings to Colombo. It is also well-connected to other Indian ports on both coasts, including Mundra, Pipavav, Nhava Sheva, Goa, Mangalore, Tuticorin, Chennai, Kattupalli, Krishnapatnam, and Visakhapatnam.