MUMBAI: Gammon Infrastructure’s joint venture special purpose vehicle (SPV), Indira Container Terminal Pvt Ltd has successfully started the trial run operations of its Offshore Container Terminal located inside Mumbai Port for roll-on/roll-off (RORO) operations, i.e. operations of providing facility to the importers & exporters of automobiles and self propelled equipments, according to a release.
The project was delayed due to certain roadblocks and bottlenecks. MbPT and the Concessionaire (ICTPL) have come together to put the facility to productive use. MbPT decided to allow ICTPL to start RORO operations on a revenue sharing of 55:45 (MbPT:ICTPL) basis for a year.
The first vessel viz. Höegh Seoul (Overall length of ship 228.7m) owned by Höegh Autoliners AS , Norway represented by their General Agents in India - Merchant Shipping Services Pvt Ltd berthed on 20th July 2015 at 1.30.p.m and vehicles manufactured by Volkswagen and General Motors (totaling nearly 2000 vehicles) loaded on the vessel for export cargo and completed operation in 15 hours and sailed with Tide at 1:30 PM on 21st July 2015 with a turn around time of about 24 hours with smooth operations. The level of efficiency was refreshing for all stake holders with clean and state of the art berth.
With unoccupied wharf conducive to berthing of vessel and wide space adjacent to the berth permitting hassle free loading of vehicles on board, alternate use of OCT to handle car carriers would provide quality services to the automobile manufacturers using this facility to export their products to different destinations around the world. This would also raise Port’s contribution in promoting export of vehicles manufactured in Maharashtra. This alternate use of OCT to handle car carriers would decongest Port’s deeper berths at Harbour Wall, BPS and BPX which then will be available for handling other general cargo meant for the city.
In the year ending March 2015, Mumbai Port Trust had handled 140,000 cars and automobiles from its facility. This year, with alternate use of OCT for car handling, the Port is expected to handle more than 170,000 vehicles, asserts Shri Ravi Parmar, Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust.
Besides Mr. Ravi Parmar, the occasion was graced by Mr. Yashodhan Wanage, Dy Chairman of MbPT; Mr. K. K. Mohanty, MD, Gammon Infrastructure Projects; Mr. Karolath Gopinath, Head of Area, Indian Subcontinent - Höegh Autoliners; Mr. Mukesh Oza, Group President and CEO of Samsara Group; Capt. G. K. Sarkari Managing Director of Samsara Group apart from representatives from MbPT, Gammon Infrastructure Projects, Höegh Autoliners, Samsara Group and the automobile manufacturers.
