| Visakhapatnam Container Terminal Private Ltd expects to garner 15,250 TEUs of throughput in the next eight months. It was handling an average of 22,000 TEUs annually before United Liner Agencies, in partnership with Dubai Ports International, took over.
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| The terminal has spent 60 per cent of the Rs 250 crore investment earmarked for the first phase, in which it will create a capacity of around 300,000 TEUs.
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| “The 15,250 TEUs target is a conservative estimate, where we have not included the volumes that can be obtained through international clients and diversion of traffic going to the west coast,” said an official at the Visakhapatnam terminal.
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| In the first leg, which spans three years, the terminal will be investing in equipment like cranes and other facilities to start operations. It has invested Rs 150 crore for the purpose so far. Investments in the second phase would depend upon how the terminal performed in terms of attracting more traffic and greater productivity in the first phase, the official said.
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| He said five feeder line vessels had been roped in for procuring and handling traffic. At present, the terminal is serviced by mainline vessels belonging to American President Liners, P&O and Maersk among others.
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| The terminal, in two months of private ownership, has managed to achieve an average of 18 crane moves per hours, which is 14 per cent less than the average of 21 moves per hour recorded by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in 2002-03. It also has the lowest tariff levels and deepest draft of 15 metres on the eastern coast. |
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