Major ports handle 719.38 MT cargo; Vizag Port at 4th spot
Deendayal (Kandla), Paradeep and Navi Mumbai’s JNPT port have emerged respectively first, second and third. While Deendayal and Paradeep ports retained their slots, JNPT got elevated to third from fourth rank due to improvement in container traffic, which it had lost due to the pandemic during 2020-21
image for illustrative purpose
Visakhapatnam: The major ports as a whole have shown signs of good recovery following rolling out vaccination campaign to fight against Covid-19 during the just-concluded financial year as Visakhapatnam Port, one of the premier ports in India, finished fourth by handling 69.03 million tonne as against 69.84 million tonne the previous year.
Deendayal (Kandla), Paradeep and Navi Mumbai's JNPT port have emerged respectively first, second and third. While Deendayal and Paradeep ports retained their slots, JNPT got elevated to third from fourth rank due to improvement in container traffic, which it had lost due to the pandemic during 2020-21.
According to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, five major ports have done best-ever performance during the just-concluded fiscal viz. Kamarajar Port (49.6 per cent), JNPT (17.3), Deendayal (8.1), Mumbai (11.5) and Cochin Port (9.7 percent).
All the major ports under the ministry have handled a throughput of 719.38 million tonne, an improvement by 6.94 percent over FY21. The turnaround time of container vessels has improved significantly from 43.44 hours in 2014 to 26.58 hours in 2021.
Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said focus on Prime Minister's Gati Shakti to ensure faster evacuation of cargo and reduction in logistics cost have started showing tangible results.
As far as Visakhapatnam Port is concerned, there is a slight drop in iron ore, which got compensated with steam coal. There is no improvement in crude oil throughput as the HPCL Visakh Refinery expansion has not been completed as per the original schedule due to disruption caused by the pandemic.
Traffic at Visakha Container Traffic Private Limited, which handles a world-class container terminal for Visakhapatnam Port as a BOT operator, has recorded a good growth with an increase to 5.11 lakh TEUs during 2021-22 from 4.81 lakh TEUs in 2020-21. VCTPL recorded a traffic of 4.50 lakh TEUs in 2018-19 and 5.07 lakh TEUs 2019-20.
