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Cochin Port Trust cuts charges for vessels

Staff Reporter

To result in increased container throughput

KOCHI: Cochin Port Trust's announcement of 50 per cent cut in vessel-related charges for mainline vessels that call at Kochi Port has came into effect on Friday. The concession is applicable to container vessels of gross tonnage of 25,000 and above, having capacity of 2,500 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) and above and connecting ports in the United States, Europe and China.

With a draft of 12.5 metres, the Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal, now being operated by India Gateway Terminals Limited (IGTL), was declared a deep-draft port by the Union Ministry of Shipping in February this year. With these two facilities, it is expected that Kochi's dream of servicing mainline vessels would become a reality, a press release from the Port Trust said.

The discount will benefit mainline vessel operators in a big way. There will also be savings in extra steaming time owing to the ideal geographical location of Kochi on the international maritime route. With mainline vessels calling at Kochi, the need for transshipment from ports in the neighbouring countries would be eliminated.

The press release also said that container throughput at Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal had jumped 25 per cent in the first five months of the current financial year compared to the same period last year. The Terminal had handled 2,02,000 TEUs of container cargo during the whole of last financial year.

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