Container trade takes to coastal sea

route, lowers logistics costs

Moving containers by sea is faster, cheaper and safer; it also saves cargo
from overland congestion bottlenecks

P.Manoj

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Bangalore: In an innovative move to trim haulage costs and hasten delivery, cargo owners using the Jawaharlal Nehru
Port near Mumbai are reaching goods to Maharashtra and Gujarat by using barges for part of the way.
New beginning:A file photo of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port near Mumbai. Ashesh Shah / Mint
Exporters and importers are now shipping containers between India’s busiest container port at Nhava Sheva and
Dharamtar, a small port about 25.9km away, in barges, which takes some three hours. Hauling cargo to a warehouse in,
say Panvel or Bhiwandi, 20km to 60km by road, can take anywhere between three and eight hours, depending on traffic
and entry restrictions.
It is the first time this is being tried in India; coastal shipping is fairly common elsewhere, including in Europe and China.
“Transportation by sea is faster, cheaper and safer. Plus, waterside operations makes the cargo free from the congestion
bottlenecks on the land side,” said Nrupal Patil, director, Dharamtar Infrastructure Ltd, a joint venture company of United
Shippers Ltd and PNP Maritime Services Pvt. Ltd that owns and operates Dharamtar Port.
The first such export shipment of 42 twenty-feet equivalent units (TEUs), executed late last year by CMA CGM SA, the
world’s third biggest container ship operator, marked the beginning of container operations at Dharamtar. TEU is an
industry measure of container cargo.
“Hinterland logistics costs are more important than ocean costs in the overall transportation chain,” said Luc Arnouts,
chief commercial officer, Antwerp Port, Europe’s second biggest. Half of the containers arriving at Antwerp can be moved
by barge to the hinterland.
“Given that logistics forms 13% of the overall gross domestic product in India compared to half of that in the Western
economies, the local industry has long figured out that effective and innovative logistics and supply chain management
concepts can result in significant savings directly or indirectly,” said Vishal Sharma, founder and managing director,
Tuscan Ventures Pvt. Ltd, a logistics-focused investment company.
Coastal shipping is being tried in India for the first time, but it is fairly common in
Europe and China
Until recently, Dharamtar Port, located on the right bank of the Amba river, about 2km from National Highway 17
connecting Mumbai to Goa, was mainly handling some 2.5 million tonnes of bulk cargo in a year. The port has now
developed container handling facilities, but will continue to focus on barges, as they have proved to be fast and efficient.
Dharamtar can only handle barges as it is only 4m deep. There are currently two barges in operation, with a total
capacity of 130 TEUs.
“Most major container shipping lines accept and deliver cargo at Dharamtar Port now,” said Sameer Varma, also of
Tuscan Ventures. Several cargo movers are now using this route including tiles maker Nitco Ltd, and pipe and valve
manufacturer Indian Seamless Metal Tubes Ltd.
Dharamtar has three jetties, of which one is dedicated to container operations. The port is suited to handling commodities
because it has in-house automatic bagging plants and also railway tracks, which is expected to be operational later this
year, enabling it to handle containers originating from and bound for northern India.
The port has 240,000 sq. ft of warehousing space that can be quickly scaled up to 2 million sq. ft.
The port is also in a customs-notified area. As a result, containers being imported and cleared at Dharamtar can be
emptied and released without paying levies for 30 days.
“Port location advantage and quick container movement have reduced the overall logistics cost at Dharamtar,” said
Varma.
CT in pact for affordable services
30 Mar 2009, 0049 hrs IST, ET Bureau

Print EMail Discuss Share Save Comment Text:

Indira Container Terminal (ICT), which is developing Mumbai Port's offshore container terminal, is signing a co-operation agreement with
Dharamtar Infrastructure on Tuesday, March 31, to enhance value added services and complete cost saving logistic solutions for cargo handled at
Mumbai Port.

While ICT is a joint venture between Spain’s Dragados SPL and the Gammon group, Dharamtar Infrastructure is another JV between United Shippers
and PNP Maritime Services that owns and operates Dharamtar Port.

ICT partners Dharamtar Infra for logistics solutions

Thursday, 09 Apr 2009
The Indira Container Terminal Pvt. Ltd, which is building the offshore container terminal at Mumbai Port, and Dharamtar Infrastructure Ltd,
which runs Dharamtar port, have signed a cooperation agreement to facilitate value-added services and cost-saving logistics solutions for
cargoes handled at ICT terminals.

The agreement entails efficient handling of ICT cargo, both imports and exports, utilizing the range of facilities at Dharamtar so as to avoid
multiple suppliers and reducing the overall logistics costs.

Dharamtar, which is 16 nautical milesfrom ICT and 13 nautical miles from JN Port, and 37 km south of Panvel on the Bombay-Alibaug road,
has been developed to primarily service the ‘mother’ ports in order to facilitate efficient and smooth logistics operations.

Some of the services it offers are container transportation by sea/road (rail proposed), bulk and break-bulk transport by sea/road,
warehousing and distribution for all commodities, CFS facility, Custom-notified warehousing (2,40,000 sq. ft of covered space), empty
container management, container repairs and Customs clearance.

Dharamtar will offer its facilities as an acceptance point for cargo to and from ICT, facilitating landside support. It will be linked to ICT by
sea under the same Customs house (Bombay Customs). And importantly, the port will offer direct and fast connections to ICT by own
dedicated container barges, the transit time being only 4 hours.

Dharamtar has been notified for container transportation and has a dedicated 32-m container barge jetty. It owns and operates 75 barges,
including 3 for box cargo (2 x 88 TEU, 1x 42 TEU). Among its other salient features are the best of modern equipment, including
specialized steel handling equipment and advanced IT systems to support the logistics operations.

Dharamtar, which currently handles close to 4 million tonnes of bulk cargo and 150-200 containers a week, is a JV between United
Shippers and PNP Maritime Services.

ICT is a joint venture between Spain’s Dragados SPL and the Gammon Group. The OCT will, when both phases are complete (in 4 years),
have a total quay length of 1,050 m with proposed capacity of 1.2 million TEUs.

(Source: Exim News Service) ICT partners Dharamtar Infra for logistics solutions
Thursday, 09 Apr, 2009
The Indira Container Terminal Pvt. Ltd, which is building the offshore container terminal at Mumbai Port, and Dharamtar
Infrastructure Ltd, which runs Dharamtar port, have signed a cooperation agreement to facilitate value-added services and
cost-saving logistics solutions for cargoes handled at ICT terminals.
The agreement entails efficient handling of ICT cargo, both imports and exports, utilizing the range of facilities at Dharamtar
so as to avoid multiple suppliers and reducing the overall logistics costs.
Dharamtar, which is 16 nautical milesfrom ICT and 13 nautical miles from JN Port, and 37 km south of Panvel on the
Bombay-Alibaug road, has been developed to primarily service the ‘mother’ ports in order to facilitate efficient and smooth
logistics operations.
Some of the services it offers are container transportation by sea/road (rail proposed), bulk and break-bulk transport by
sea/road, warehousing and distribution for all commodities, CFS facility, Custom-notified warehousing (2,40,000 sq. ft of
covered space), empty container management, container repairs and Customs clearance.
Dharamtar will offer its facilities as an acceptance point for cargo to and from ICT, facilitating landside support. It will be
linked to ICT by sea under the same Customs house (Bombay Customs). And importantly, the port will offer direct and fast
connections to ICT by own dedicated container barges, the transit time being only 4 hours.
Dharamtar has been notified for container transportation and has a dedicated 32-m container barge jetty. It owns and operates
75 barges, including 3 for box cargo (2 x 88 TEU, 1x 42 TEU). Among its other salient features are the best of modern
equipment, including specialized steel handling equipment and advanced IT systems to support the logistics operations.
Dharamtar, which currently handles close to 4 million tonnes of bulk cargo and 150-200 containers a week, is a JV between
United Shippers and PNP Maritime Services.
ICT is a joint venture between Spain’s Dragados SPL and the Gammon Group. The OCT will, when both phases are
complete (in 4 years), have a total quay length of 1,050 m with proposed capacity of 1.2 million TEUs.
(Source: Exim News Service)
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