VO Chidambaranar Port sets new container handling record

VO Chidambaranar Port has achieved a landmark in container handling by handling 5,61,586 TEUs, 25 days ahead of the close of the current financial, surpassing the record container traffic of 5,59,727 TEUs for the whole of the previous financial year.

This year, up to 6 March 2016, the port has maintained an impressive growth in container traffic of 9.36 per cent compared with the same period of the previous financial year.

VO Chidambaranar Port, because of its proximity, offers the fastest transshipment time to Colombo Port among all Indian ports. At present there are two container terminals in VO Chidambaranar Port.

Berth No7, with a capacity of 4.17 lakh TEUs, is being operated by PSA SICAL. The terminal, commissioned under BOT basis in 1999, operates eight services a week, of which six services are operated between Tuticorin and Colombo, one coastal service and one international-cum-coastal service connecting Tuticorin – Colombo – Mundra – Jebel Ali – Mundra – Pipavav – Cochin and Tuticorin.

Berth-8, operated by Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminals Mumbai, commenced its partial operations from May 2014 and full-fledged operation with the capacity of 6 lakh TEUs is expected by December 2016 with commissioning of quay cranes. At present, Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminal offers 2 services a week between Tuticorin and Colombo, one coastal service and one international-cum-coastal service connecting Tuticorin – Colombo – Mundra – Jebel Ali – Mundra – Pipavav – Cochin and Tuticorin

Commodities like cotton yarn, handlooms, machinery, sea food, paper, granite, coir pith etc, are exported though containers to Europe, North America and almost all Asian countries. Cotton, metal scrap, waste paper, cotton fibre, chemicals, metal and rubber products etc, are imported predominantly from Europe and East Asian countries. One inland container depot and 13 container freight stations located in the vicinity of the port ensure seamless flow of containers to and from the port.

On 20 February this year, VO Chidambaranar Port Trust also created a new record in handling copper concentrate. A quantity of 19,055 metric tonnes of copper concentrate in bulk was unloaded from the vessel MV Dynasty Shanga at Berth No IX by means of hoppers directly into trucks.

This is the highest tonnage ever achieved in a single day at the port, using hoppers, thus breaking the previous record of 17,105 metric tonnes of copper concentrate in bulk unloaded from the vessel Navios Celestial on 23 May 2015.