KOCHI : Marking a growth in international connectivity post-pandemic, the Cochin Port registers a jump in port liner shipping connectivity index prepared by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The index, which indicates a country’s position within global liner shipping networks, shows a 21.8% growth in the second quarter of this year when compared with the first quarter.

According to the recently-released data, the connectivity index has increased from 18.8 in the first quarter of this year to 22.29 in the second quarter. It is the first time after the third quarter of 2019 that the UNCTAD index of the Port crosses 20.

At present, two main line services are operating from Cochin Port – one connecting different ports in Europe and the other one connecting ports in China. Apart from this, five foreign feeder services and five coastal services are operating from the Port.

It was a month ago that DP World, which is operating the International Container Transhipment Terminal, launched a weekly service ‘PIC2’ to strengthen the India-West Asia link.

The service, with a 2,407 TEUs vessel capacity, provides connectivity of Kochi with Chennai, Krishnapatanam, Visakhapatnam, Tuticorin, Kandla, Karachi, and Jebel Ali. With this service, Cochin Port provides four direct sailing weekly services to the Middle East region.

A senior official of the traffic wing of Cochin Port Authority (CPA) said that the jump in the index was a result of the marketing strategies adopted by CPA to increase connectivity of the Port.

“We had launched various concession schemes to increase traffic at the port. The data will help Cochin Port establish its powerful position in the global logistics market,” said the official.

C D Nandakumar of Cochin Port Employees’ Organisation said that increasing shipping connectivity of the port is always a positive trend, but we should observe the situation closely for some period.