Minister Vasan traces Sagar Sandesh feats

Source: www.sagarsandesh.com

Mr. S. Natarajan, Chairman (I/C) , VOC Port Trust, Tuticorin, Mr. Atulya Misra, Chairman, Chennai Port Trust, Dr. R. Lakshmipathy, Editor & Publisher, Sagar Sandesh, Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan, Mr. L. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, JNPT, Mumbai, and Mr. M. A. Bhaskarachar, CMD, Ennore Port Limited (EPL), displaying the First Anniversary issue of Sagar Sandesh in Chennai on Feb. 8

--Minister also launched an exclusive online portal (www.porttoport.in), a dedicated web service for exporters and importers

-Port Chairmen steal show @ 1st anniversary

Sagar Sandesh Maritime tabloid English Weekly Newspaper, the undisputed ‘Voice of Indian Shipping,’ celebrated its First Anniversary on Feb. 8 in Chennai.

Union Minister of Shipping G K Vasan, who launched Sagar Sandesh exactly one year ago in Mumbai, was the Chief Guest at the glittering ceremony to release the anniversary special issue in the presence of Dr. R. Lakshmipathy, the Publisher and Editor of Sagar Sandesh; Mr. L. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, JNPT, Mumbai; Mr. Atulya Misra, Chairman, Chennai Port Trust; Mr. M. A. Bhaskarachar, CMD, Ennore Port Limited (EPL); Mr. S Natarajan, Chairman (in-charge) of V O Chidambaranar Port Trust, Tuticorin and

Dr. R. Krishnamurthy, Printer of Sagar Sandesh.

On the occasion, the Minister also launched an exclusive online portal (www.porttoport.in), a dedicated web service for exporters and importers from the house of Sagar Sandesh on daily vessel movement and updates in Indian ports.

Port to Port is an open database of ships sailing schedules all over India that provides the EXIM fraternity with a realtime view of the forward sailing schedules, from national overview to single port.

Mr. Vasan commented: “I compliment the Publisher Dr. Lakshmipathy and his dedicated team on the completion of one year of its publication and wish them good luck for years ahead.”

Outlining the importance of newspaper and media, the Minister said: “Print and electronic media plays a critical role in bringing the focus on public issues and highlighting the various steps taken by the Government for the development and welfare of people.”

He noted: “The objective of Sagar Sandesh, which was launched last year, is indeed laudable. Its aim is to address the problems faced by various stakeholders in the maritime sector and draw attention to the Government for the policy issues that help in resolving those problems.”

Sagar Sandesh has been playing the role of connecting to the Ministry of Shipping, the Directorate  General of Shipping and various other Government agencies like the port trusts with the industry, agents, port users and academia, the Minister observed.

As a guide to shipping industry, Sagar Sandesh and its online version endeavoured to cover wide range of subjects like shipping, ports, logistics, seafaring and entire gamut of maritime sector leaving no aspect untouched, the Minister remarked.

Speaking about the importance of communication, Mr. Vasan pointed out: “With the advent of information and communication technology, the world has shrunk into a global village where voice, video and data are transmitted at an unimaginable pace. Internet is a powerful tool which can be used for communicating information throughout the world in a matter of second or even less.”

Having successfully established Sagar Sandesh and its online edition, Dr Lakshmipathy and his team are now venturing into web-based services with the launch of exclusive online portal on daily vessel movement and updates in Indian ports, the Minister said.

“The website www.porttoport.in, I am sure that it would definitely serve the professionals engaged in maritime sector in India and across the world in the quest for instant access to emerging developments,” he added.

Encouraged over the presence of heavyweights of EXIM trade at the anniversary celebrations, Mr. Vasan stated: “Today, we have with us wide representations of container terminal operators, freight forwarders, container freight stations (CFSs), steamer agents and also from the Railways. It shows the keen interest the launch of the website has evinced among various stakeholders.”

“I feel it is appropriate that the Chairmen of four major ports have chosen to present here at the launch of this website, which is another vehicle for information dissemination,” the Minister quipped.

Patting the maritime weekly from his heart, the Minister declared: “You would agree with me that Sagar Sandesh has stepped in to fill a void in the maritime sector. I am sure that in future Sagar Sandesh will not only bring mariners and logistics managers together but also bring more awareness about the role and contribution of maritime sector to the common people of the country.”

Earlier, Dr. R. Lakshmipathy welcomed the gathering.

Besides others, Mr. Ennarasu Karunesan, CEO & Director, DP World, Chennai; Mr. A.V. Vijayakumar, Vice- President of the Federation of Freight Forwarders' Associations in India (FFFAI); Mr. Arul A Joseph, Vice-Chairman of FEDSAI; Mr. N. Sreekumar, IRTS, Chief General Manager, CONCOR/ Southern

Region; Mr. M. S. Arun, Chairman, NACFS–Chennai Chapter, and Mr. M. Subramanian, Principal, RL Institute of Nautical Sciences, Madurai, offered their felicitations.

Mr. R. Mohan Kanaga Kumar, Executive Editor of Sagar Sandesh, proposed a vote of thanks.

Information revolution

Mr. L. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, JNPT, Mumbai : It gives me great pleasure for being part of the  information revolution that has been happening led by Dr. R. Lakshimpathy, who is a wellknown person in the media circles and also in the field of maritime education. I congratulate Sagar Sandesh for the latest initiative that gives much more information at the fingertips of professionals related to EXIM trade.

Union Shipping Minister G. K. Vasan has envisaged Maritime Agenda 2020 in which he proposes to triple the capacity of Indian ports from one billion metric tonnes to three billion MTs. JNPT, which is the largest solid cargo port in India, is also moving in the direction as envisaged by the Minister to increase handling of more and more cargo to meet the Maritime Agenda goals well before the target.

Since we are much more congested than most of the ports in the country, we are working over 150 per cent of our capacity and our own terminal, which we operate without Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode, has found an increase in productivity of 19.75 per cent in 2011 and last year, it was 23.5 per cent jump.

Despite this tremendous growth, we are unable to cater to the demand. So, we have lined up several projects worth more than Rs. 55,000 crores in the coming years.

Great occasion

Mr. Atulya Misra, Chairman, Chennai Port Trust : I am extremely thankful to Dr. R. Lakshmipathy for organizing this gathering in which leaders of EXIM fraternity are assembled in one hall. And this is a great occasion for us. There were some lacunae we have. We had a problem of information.

Under the leadership of Minister Vasan, port connectivity system has been developed. It was providing a forum for ports to talk to each other. However, the ports were not yet being synchronized and were not having a kind of interface with the shipping. Whatever we were doing, we were doing it in our isolation and berthing meetings. I would once again congratulate all of you for having coming here for being a part of a major development in the maritime sector.

Today, this weekly newspaper Sagar Sandesh has become the most important source of information to each one of us.

Dream come true

Mr. M. A. Bhaskarachar, CMD, Ennore Port Limited (EPL) : Sagar Sandesh in one of the constituents to our efforts to make our Minister’s dream come true. The weekly has been very helpful for  understanding and knowing the latest developments in the sector to stay up-to date.

Certainly, the website www.porttoport.in is going to help not only the port users and vessel agents, but also the ports. Earlier, we used to struggle with updating and all. Now, port can relax that we have an alternate site available all the time.

It is definitely going to help all of us. Ennore Port has a lot of potential and we are working hard to  achieve our target.

Boon for EXIM trade

Mr. S. Natarajan, Chairman (I/C), VOC Port Trust, Tuticorin : Under the leadership of most dynamic Minister of Shipping, capacity augmentation of major ports is in full gear and many projects have already been awarded by many ports and getting ready to handle cargoes in a year’s time.

In VOC Port Trust, we have already awarded four PPP projects and it is in the final stages of finalizing three more PPP projects.

Sagar Sandesh, the weekly newspaper, is containing very well and up-to date information about the  shipping sector. By launching the dedicated website it has added a feather in the logistics service providers in the country.

I am confident that the website will provide a real-time ship schedules featuring each and every important details to the maritime fraternity. I hope that the website would become an important tool for business promotion among the EXIM traders.

45 million logistics players linked

Mr. Ennarasu Karunesan, CEO & Director, DP World, Chennai : Creating 1.3 billion tonnes and that too within a span of 3.5 years, where we were always in shortage. But today, we are in excess in terms of ports and shipping, and it is mainly due to the efforts of Union Shipping Minister G. K. Vasan.

Today, I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that our Minister is seen as the beacon of hope for the whole EXIM fraternity in the country. Quite a lot of achievements are done in the past 3.5 years by the Shipping Ministry and Indian EXIM trade owes it to you sir.

By the initiative of Dr. R. Lakshmipathy in the form of a dedicated website www.porttoport.in , Sagar Sandesh has connected about 45 million logistics players in the country. I congratulate Sagar Sandesh and its team for this wonderful effort.

Hats off to RLP

Mr. A. V. Vijayakumar, Vice-Chairman, FFFAI : Sagar Sandesh in one year young and is stepping into the next year. A new child www.porttoport.in portal is born today. The one year has been an eventful year and I congratulate Dr. R. Lakshmipathy for his pioneering efforts in launching and sustaining a publication industry.

The Shipping Industry in India is very fragmented and faces formidable challenges to access relevant information in a readily and an easily understandable format.

Sagar Sandesh has effectively addressed the much-needed industry requirement. There is a great gap  between informing and educating. Sagar Sandesh has successfully educated the shipping fraternity in an understandable manner.

The presence of the Union Shipping Minister, Mr. Vasan, is an acknowledgement of the service rendered by Sagar Sandesh to our industry. We all know that the Minister is a keen observer of even a minor development in the Shipping Industry and his enthusiasm and vision to make the Indian shipping industry a world-class professional body of reputation is indeed laudable.

His august presence to inaugurate the dedicated website www.porttoport.in is a sign of his keen interest to all matters affecting shipping fraternity and encourage every one of us to emulate his efforts to improve this industry.

Birth in TN hailed

Mr. Arul A Joseph, Vice-Chairman, FEDSAI : This is a wonderful occasion and we have every reason to celebrate this occasion. After seeing more than 52 issues of Sagar Sandesh, I am definite, confident and sure that this paper is a long-awaited one in the industry and trade for all the qualities that an industry like shipping wants.

Sagar Sandesh is a newspaper, wonderfully edited with wide coverage of 16 pages every week covers domestic, national and international shipping scenario so clearly, so summarizing and so informative.

We should be really proud because this type of newspaper, which was long awaited, has evolved from our own state Tamil Nadu.

Global coverage

Mr. N. Sreekumar, CGM, CONCOR, SR : Sagar Sandesh doesn’t look like a one-year old paper. It looks like a well-established, well-planned and well-furnished journal that comes to you on a weekly basis.

It gives a regional flavour, like what you look for your place is there. Then you look for Government policies, its implications, what to hope for, what has come, what is likely to come, everything is covered.

Then, comes the international coverage. We would like to know what is happening in the shipping sector around the world. And, that is also well covered. In addition, there is something more in Sagar  Sandesh for everybody.

It’s unique

Mr. M.S. Arun, Chairman, NACFS, Chennai : In an era where there is a flood of relevant and irrelevant information and news, Sagar Sandesh chose to be different. It concentrates on maritime news, which is a critical area in today’s world with key focus on logistics.

Sagar Sandesh, being a local publication has given prominence to news from in and around Chennai  without diluting or leaving out (news) from other parts of India and around the world.

Weekly vessel schedule is a very important information for the industry including importers, exporters, Custom House Agents, CFSs and all others. This information will help the trade make a choice on connecting vessel without missing deadlines.

Dedicated newspaper

Mr. M. Subramanian, Principal, RLINS : Though there are so many maritime magazines in circulation, only Sagar Sandesh has dedicated itself for the various activities of the shipping industry and mainly on the issues facing the maritime training institutes. Sagar Sandesh has been projecting problems and difficulties faced by the maritime training institutes without any fear or favour.

It is nothing new for the Publisher of Sagar Sandesh, Dr. R. Lakshmipathy, as he has been doing the same or the various national issues through his national Tamil daily Dinamalar as its Publisher. As he has no axe to grind, he has been always bold enough to bring out the problems faced by the industry and the maritime training institutes in particular. Dr. Lakshmipathy has been constantly bringing out innovative ideas in all activities he is involved in. One such thing is the Port to Port website and the weekly ship schedule. I am sure the business community in the shipping industry will find this a boon to their business.