MANGALORE: New Mangalore Port handled a largest parcel size container vessel this week. A statement by New Mangalore Port Authority (NMPA) said, the container vessel MV SM Neyyar, which was berthed in the port on July 23, sailed out on July 25.

In all, the port handled 1,936 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containers on this ship. This included 1011 TEUs of import containers and 925 TEUs of export containers. 

Terming this as the largest parcel size container vessel ever handled at the port, a statement by the Traffic Manager of NMPA said, the earlier record was. MV SSL Brahmaputra with 1521 TEUs of containers. The vessel MV SSL Brahmaputra had called at the port on June 14 2021.

Increased traffic

The container traffic at NMPA, which was around 1000 TEUs to 2000, increased to 1.5 lakh TEUs in 2021-22. The statement said that these containers were handled at various general cargo berths of the port till last financial year.

Considering the growth, and to facilitate the smooth handling of the container vessels, the port awarded the work of mechanisation of container handling at an exclusively deep-draft berth (no. 14) to Mangalore Container Terminal Pvt Ltd (of JSW) on PPP model. This completed work is expected to contribute higher volumes of containers in the coming years, it said.

Regarding this achievement, 

AV Ramana, Chairman of NMPA said, the multi-dimensional initiatives of the port such as online gate admittance, improved storage facilities, coupled with coordinated efforts and professional service by port authorities and business development and operational team of JSW Mangalore Container Terminal made this happen.