Cochin port to engage consultant for ICTT

The Cochin Port Trust (CPT) has decided to come up with a concerted plan for building a container handling facility at the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT), Vallarpadam.

In this regard, the CPT has decided to engage a consultant to study and come up with plans to bring cost competitiveness and service reliability while using the terminal. A core committee will also be constituted, which will study and evolve a strategic plan for diversion of more containers through the ICTT.

The stakeholders of CPT include Cochin Chamber of Commerce and service providers like Terminal Operator, Steamer Agents Association and Custom House Agents Association. The meeting decided to implement steps to attract new shipping services to commence from the ICTT. Simultaneously, the service providers will reach out to the Exim sector to route more containers through Vallarpadam.

The participants of the meeting assured better services from their individual avenues to increase the capacity utilisation of the ICTT. They pointed out that there were rooms for cost reduction. It was decided to proceed with a diagnostic approach to identify the existing factors leading to comparative disadvantages and put in place remedial measures.

The meeting was attended by Paul Antony, chairman, CPT, Anil Singh, vice president (DP World), G Krishnakumar, deputy chairman (CPT), C Unnikrishnan, traffic manager (CPT) among others.