Page 3 - Ports

Shipbuilders from Japan, Korea keen to invest here: Sarbananda Sonowal

Sonowal says coastal states to soon have own shipbuilding policies

MSC Claude Girardet reaches Kerala's Vizhinjam international seaport

MSC Claude Girardet, the largest cargo ship ever to have docked in India, has arrived at the Vizhinjam International Seaport here on Friday. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said the berthing of the giant vessels showcases the readiness of the state to become a key player in global cargo shipping. The ship that sailed from Malaysia will return after container handling at Vizhinjam international seaport. "MSC Claude Girardet, the largest cargo ship ever to be berthed in India, has anchored at @PortOfVizhinjam, marking a pivotal moment in Kerala's growth. With a capacity of 24,116 containers, this giant vessel showcases our readiness to become a key player in global cargo shipping," Vijayan posted on X. The ship is 399.99 metres long, 61.5 metres in width and 16.6 metres in depth. The CM noted that it was the largest ship to have arrived in South Asia. The arrival of one of the biggest cargo vessel shows that the mother port of Vizhinjam can easliy handle internatio

More than 80 critical issues resolved during 20th MSDC meet in Goa

More than 80 critical issues between the Centre, states and Union Territories were resolved during the 20th Maritime State Development Council (MSDC) that concluded in Goa on Friday. As per an official release, the two-day event saw the resolution of critical issues focused on port infrastructure modernisation, connectivity, statutory compliances, maritime tourism, navigation projects, sustainability, and port security. During the 20th MSDC, more than 100 issues from various states were deliberated and successfully resolved, it said. "Several new and emerging challenges were also addressed, including the establishment of places of refuge (PoR) for ships in distress, the development of radioactive detection equipment (RDE) infrastructure at ports to enhance security, and the facilitation of seafarers by recognising them as key essential workers, ensuring better working conditions and access to shore leave," the statement added. Union Minister of Port Shipping and Waterways Sarbanand

New liner service to connect Jeddah Port to India's Mundra, Nhava Sheva

A leading maritime services company announced on Sunday the launch of a new liner service connecting the Red Sea's Jeddah Islamic Port to India's Mundra and Nhava Sheva, two of the largest commercial ports in the country. Folk Maritime Services Company, a Public Investment Fund and one of the region's emerging leaders in providing regional liner and feeder services, said the 10-day facility with two vessels will commence in September. According to a company statement, the services will strengthen trade ties by facilitating the movement of consumer cargo from India and products from Saudi Arabia, including petrochemicals. In addition to deploying its vessel, Folk Maritime has also signed a Vessel Sharing Agreement (VSA) with Oman's Asayd, which will also deploy a vessel for the new route, the statement revealed. Announcing the new India Redsea Service (IRS), Poul Hestbaek, Chief Executive Officer of Folk Maritime, said the new route would further "enhance bilateral trade between the

Vadhvan Port in Maha to generate 1.2 mn jobs for youth, women: Sonowal

The proposed Vadhvan Port in the Palghar district of Maharashtra will generate 12 lakh jobs for the local youth and women besides creating multiple facilities for the people of the area once it becomes operational, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Friday. Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the port project at CIDCO ground in Palghar, Sonowal also said that India has earned a name as a maritime nation in the world under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has taken a slew of initiatives for the maritime sector in the last 10 years. Modi laid the foundation stone for the mega project in the presence of Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan, state chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. The prime minister during his visit to the state also inaugurated, laid foundation stoned for 218 fisheries projects worth Rs 1,560-crore in Palghar besides addressing the 2024 edition of three-day Global Fintech .

Port workers defer nationwide strike after successful talks with govt

Relief for transporters, traders who were fearing cost hikes

Port, dock workers' unions defer indefinite strike scheduled from Wednesday

Port and dock workers' unions of major ports have deferred their indefinite strike proposed from Wednesday, official sources said on Tuesday. The decision came after an agreement between representatives of workers' unions and ports management on workers' demands at a marathon meeting in the national capital on Tuesday, they said. At a national coordination committee meeting in Tuticorn (Tamil Nadu) on August 8, major port workers' unions affiliated to five federations decided to go on an indefinite strike from August 28 to press for immediate wage revision and other benefits, pending for nearly 32 months. Subsequently, strike notices were served by the unions to administrators of the respective ports on August 12. "The federations have agreed to postpone the proposed strike from August 28," a top port official said. As part of the agreement, the fitment benefit of 8.5 per cent on the aggregate amount of basic pay as on December 31, 2021, plus 30 per cent cent VDA as on January 1,

Major ports invite workers for discussion next week ahead of strike call

Major ports operators have invited representatives of the ports and dock workers' unions for a discussion in New Delhi on Tuesday next week to avert an indefinite nationwide strike call given by employee federations from August 28, a source said on Friday. The worker unions at a national coordination committee meeting in Tuticorn (Tamil Nadu) on August 8 decided to strike work indefinitely from August 28 to press for immediate settlement of wage revision and benefits, pending for more than two years. Subsequently, strike notices were served to the administrators of the respective ports on August 12. Meanwhile, Mumbai Port Authority Chairman, Rajeev Jalota, told PTI that a meeting of the Bipartite Wage Negotiations Committee has been called in the national capital on August 28 to consider the workers' joint charter of demands. Jalota is also the chairman of the Bipartite Wage Negotiations Committee. "We have already started deliberations with the workers' representatives. We have .

JN Port to scale up handling capacity to over 10 mn TEUs by April

Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday said that the container handling facility at Jawaharlal Nehru Port is being scaled up to 10 million TEUs. Speaking with reporters after reviewing various infrastructure and development projects at the port, the minister also said that the upcoming Vadhvan Port in the Palghar district of Maharashtra would generate 10 lakh jobs in the region. To be built as an all-weather port, the greenfield deep draft mega port will come up at an investment of Rs 76,200 crore. The minister said JNPA soon will have a container handling capacity of around 10 million TEUs. A senior JNPA official said that the container handling capacity currently stands at 7.4 million TEUs, which will go up to 10.4 million TEUs by April next year. Sonowal said that Jawaharlal Nehru Port has become the first 100 per cent landlord port in the country, adding that, "accordingly we are aiming for bigger and bigger ships at this facility."

Indian port workers to go on strike to demand better wages, benefits

Around 20,000 workers are part of the group of port workers' unions, and all of them would join the strike, said Sathya Narayanan, a senior union member

Port workers' union call for strike to demand better wages, benefits

A strike by India's port workers could exacerbate the existing congestion issues at Asian and European ports, leading to further delayed shipments

Indian ports make bunkering activity gains amid Red Sea crisis: S&P

Bunkering activity and STS calls at the country's ports increased 64 per cent Y-o-Y between January and July 2024, stated S&P Global Commodity Insights

India adds two more ports for export of essential commodities to Maldives

India has announced two additional ports for the export of essential commodities from India to the Maldives for the financial year of 2024-25.The two new ports announced are namely: Kandla Sea (INIXY1) and Vishakhapatnam Sea (INYTZ1)."Government of India has announced the inclusion of two additional ports for export of essential commodities from India to the Maldives for FY 2024-2025," the Indian High Commission in Maldives said in a post on X.Kandla and Vishakhapatnam Customs Sea ports have been added to the list of ports allowed for Export of Essential Commodities. This is in addition to four ports which were already in use."In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 read with Section 5 of the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act. 1992. read with paragraph 1.02 and 2.01 of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023, as amended from time to tone, the Central Government hereby amends Notification No 06/2023 dated 15 04 2024 incorporating (2) additional Ports for Export of

Two armed robberies reported in Indian ports, anchorages in H1 2024

The situation in India's ports and anchorages has remained relatively stable, with two incidents of armed robbery against ships reported from January to June 2024, a regional maritime agency said on Wednesday. Comparatively, there were three incidents in the Indian ports and anchorages last year, said Krishnaswamy Natarajan, executive director of the Singapore-based Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships in Asia. He pointed out that all such robberies involved stealing nominal items and in some cases engine spares and scrap metals which are in demand in the black market. A total of 12 incidents of armed robbery against ships took place in the Indian Ocean Region from January to June 2024, he told PTI on Wednesday at the released Half-Year Report (JanuaryJune 2024) on Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships (ARAS) in Asia by the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC). The majority of these incidents, 10, happened in Bangladesh ports and ..

'JSW Infra to reassess strategy for Tajpur port if it comes for re-bidding'

Indicating that the company is still interested in the mega Tajpur deep sea port in West Bengal, JSW Infrastructure Ltd said that it remains open to re-evaluate its strategy for the project "if the project comes for re-bidding", a senior official said. JSW Group had failed to emerge as the winning bidder in the last tendering round, where Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd (APSEZ) had emerged as the L1 bidder in October 2022, and a Letter of Intent to Award (LOIA) was handed over to the company. However, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's announcement at the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) in November 2023 that a tender would soon be launched for the development of the port. This has led to a cloud of uncertainty around the mega deep-sea port project. Banerjee had announced that the proposed deep-sea port at Tajpur is ready for tender, which would attract an investment of USD 3 billion or Rs 25,000 crore. JSW Infrastructure Joint Managing Director and CEO Arun Maheswari told PTI: "We will

JSW Infra buys 70.4% stake in logistics firm Navkar Corp for Rs 1,013 cr

An open offer will be made to the rest of the shareholders of Navkar Corporation which will cost around Rs 412.17 cr

Vadhavan Port: India's first mega port set to boost sea-based trade

The Vadhavan port, which the Cabinet cleared this week, will be India's first to begin life as a mega port. What does that mean for the country's share of sea-based trade?

Greenfield port in Maharashtra to be integral part of IMEC: Vaishnaw

Calling the decision a milestone, Vaishnaw stressed that Vadhavan port will have a major multiplier impact on India's economic growth in the future

Cabinet clears Rs 76,200 cr for development of Maha's greenfield major port

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the development of a Rs 76,200 crore all-weather greenfield deep draft major Port at Vadhavan in Maharashtra, according to an official statement. The statement said the project will be constructed by Vadhavan Port Project Limited (VPPL), an SPV formed by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), with a shareholding of 74 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively. The port will be one of the top 10 ports in the world, the statement said. The project will create employment opportunities for 12 lakh people, I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a press briefing. The port will comprise nine container terminals, each 1,000 metres long, four multipurpose berths, including the coastal berth, four liquid cargo berths, a Ro-Ro berth, and a Coast Guard berth.

9 Indian ports among top 100 in Container Port Performance Index 2023

As many as nine ports of India have made it to the global top 100 rankings in the latest edition of Container Port Performance Index, an official statement said on Wednesday. The Container Port Performance Index (CPPI), developed by World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence, measures the resilience, efficiency and overall performance of the Ports. While Visakhapatnam Port made it to the top 20 ports of the World at 19 in 2023, Mundra Port also climbed up the index at 27 in the current ranking. According to the statement, Visakhapatnam Port has showcased strong performance with 27.5 moves per crane hour, a turnaround time (TRT) of 21.4 hours, and minimal berth idle time. These metrics highlight the port's efficiency in handling container ships and significantly influence customer preference. Seven other Indian ports, which secured ranks in the top 100, are Pipavav (ranked 41 in the list), Kamarajar (47), Cochin (63), Hazira (68), Krishnapatnam (71), Chennai (80) and Jawaharlal .