The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Antwerp port ready to offer know-how on handling coal

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Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009
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Antwerp port ready to offer know-how on handling coal

Special Correspondent

Chennai Port Trust has evinced keen interest: delegation head

— Photo: M.Vedhan

(From left) B. Sridhar, member, CII National Logistics Council; Jean-Joel Schittecatte, Consul- General for Belgium,;Marc Van Peel, Chairman, Port of Antwerp and Raj Khalid, Representative – India, Port of Antwerp, at an interactive session in Chennai on Monday.

CHENNAI: The Port of Antwerp is willing to offer technology to Chennai Port Trust to tackle environmental problems arising because of the handling of coal consignments, Port of Antwerp Authority Chairman Marc Van Peel said here on Monday.

Leading a nine-member business delegation to India to strengthen trade links between the two countries, he said that a private firm was ready to offer a new technology to handle coal in an environment-friendly manner and Chennai Port Trust had evinced keen interest in it.

To contain the dust, the Chennai Port Trust currently adopted several measures such as sprinkling of water and erection of wind curtains at different points, among other things. The officials made a detailed presentation to the delegates about the proposed projects.

Talking to reporters after meeting the Chennai Port Trust officials, Mr. Peel said that representatives from the Indian port and logistic sectors were getting trained regularly in Antwerp. It was decided to send people from Antwerp to get trained in India on safety and security aspects. Chennai Port Trust will be sending a small team of officers to Antwerp to get first-hand information and to find out what sort of help it can offer. Addressing a seminar on ‘India-Belgium forward’ organised by the CII Institute of Logistics, Port of Antwerp, Representative-India, Raj Khalid, said: “We are here to seek business from the factories of Asia to ports in Europe. We offer the best customer service in the European Union. We are here for a long haul. We also had a discussion with Chennai Port officials on how to handle increased car exports from Chennai Port in the future.”

B. Sridhar, member, CII National Logistics Council, said that ports in the west and southeast had drawn up plans to enhance their handling capacities over the next four to five years by 7.14 million TEUs and 11.75 million TEUs respectively.

“The new projects of the western ports might get delayed by a year or two because of recession and lack of demand. As many as 235 Special Economic Zones are being set up in the southern States against 174 SEZs in the west. Even, if 50 per cent of SEZs gets going, then the ports in south would definitely outstrip west in container volume,” he said.

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