Gujarat Pipavav Port upgrades infrastructure

The new offereing from APM Terminals Pipavav will help in reducing transportation cost, enhance operational capacity for the port

AP Moller-Maersk group company Gujarat Pipavav Port (APM Terminals Pipavav) one of Western India’s fastest growing gateway ports has upgraded its infrastructure with the ability to carry Double Stack High Cube Containers.

This new offering from APM Terminals Pipavav will help in reducing transportation cost; enhance operational capacity for the port, Inland Container Depots and Rail operators. The new offering and the cascading effect will provide better hinterland connectivity for customers based in North and North West India.

Following the commencement of double stack container trains, APM Terminals Pipavav is now one of the two ports in India with this capability. 

“We have crossed a significant milestone in our endeavor to becoming the most preferred port along the business-rich West coast of India through this investment into infrastructure and technology. We believe the commencement of double stack high cube trains will be a game-changer for not just us but the country at large and translate to sweating of assets, efficient and speedy delivery to the end-users. Our commitment to facilitate global trade stands high, due to our consistent efforts to upgrade our service offerings,” said Prakash Tulsiani, Managing Director of the company.

APM Terminals Pipavav and The Indian Railways in 2006 pioneered double stack movement in the country, when its first train moved along the Jaipur-Pipavav route, capability of double stacking was limited to general purpose containers of a height of 8 feet and 6 inches due to structures across the tracks en route. Over the past few months APM Terminals Pipavav, The Indian Railways and Gujarat Electricity Company (GETCO) have worked together to elevate or clear these structures in order to carry High Cube containers with a height of 9 feet 6 inches – stacked one on top of another, the double stack rises to 19 feet over and above the flat wagon height. 

The very first Double Stack High Cube Container train left APM Terminals Pipavav on July 17, 2013, with a full load of 180 TEUs for CONCOR’s new double stack hub, Kathuwas in Rajasthan. 

The new service is strategically intended to benefit shippers, consignees, shipping lines, rail operators, ICDs and APM Terminals Pipavav for optimization of capacity, routing and overall savings on cost and fuel.