Saravanan's Blog

Source:  http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/cchaa-delegation-visits-l-ts-kict/ A group of over 20 members from Chennai Custom House Agents’ Association (CCHAA)  visited L & T’s Kattupalli International Container Terminal (KICT) at Kattupalli on  Nov 27. Led by CCHAA President P. S. Krishnan and its Secretary G. D. Sigamani, the team,  which entered the terminal premises in the morning, left  KICT by evening after  visiting all the the facilities. Speaking to Sagar Sandesh, Mr. Krishnan said: “On the invitation of KICT Kattupalli  authorities, we have visited the terminal along with top office-bearers of the  association.”  “ It was a wonderful visit to the new port facility promoted by L & T  near Chennai Port with container handling capacity and the terminal representatives  clarified all the doubts raised by the visiting Custom House Agents on the  advantages of using it for EXIM business, ” he added. To a que...

Source: http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/an-end-to-traffic-jam-of-container-laden-trailers/ Mr B.B. Pattanaik, Managing Director, Central Warehousing. Corporation (CWC) (second from right) exchanging Memorandum of Agreement with Mr Atulya Misra, Chairman, Chennai Port Trust, in the presence of Union Shipping Minister Mr G K Vasan on Nov 29 in Chennai Pic courtesy: Mr  T Shankaran With a view to easing congestion of container-laden trailers along Ennore Expressway  and Madhavaram to the port, Chennai Port Trust on Nov. 29 inaugurated its parking  yard-cum-seal verification centre at Thiruvottiyur. In the presence of Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) Managing Director B. B.  Patnaik, Union Minister of Shipping G. K. Vasan inaugurated the operations of the  Thiruvottiyur parking yard by flagging off the first container-laden trailer to the  yard . Chennai Port has developed in the first phase the parking facility for around 250  trailers in...

Source: http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/govt-wants-to-see-all-ports-reap-profits-vasan/ The Government of India’s endeavour is to see all the ports in the country remain profitable, Union Minister of Shipping G. K. Vasan has said. He was speaking after flagging off coal barges of 2, 100 DWT (Deadweight tonnage) of Jindal ITF Ltd, to formally launch the recently started movement of imported coal on National Waterway-1 (the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System) by inland vessels from Sandheads in Bay of Bengal to Farakka Thermal Power Plant of NTPC Ltd. in District Murshidabad, West Bengal, in Kolkata on Nov. 25. Mr. Vasan said: “ This is a unique project where Government, public and private sectors joined hands together to provide a good alternative mode of transport.” He pointed out that the Kolkata Port Trust would also get revenue out of the project. The Unioin Minister further inaugurated a transport terminal of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) at the func...

Source:  http://barentsobserver.com/en/business/2013/11/murmansk-wants-be-cruise-liners-gateway-arctic-20-11#! Cruise vessel at port in the fishery harbor of Murmansk. (Photo: Thomas Nilsen) Russia is opening their part of the Arctic for international cruise liners and Murmansk is upgrading the harbor to serve passenger traffic. By  Thomas Nilsen Serious facelift is underway at the central port of Murmansk where the city's new terminal for foreign cruise vessels will open next summer.   The terminal is located a few minutes’ walk from the railway station, also supposed to be totally renovated before Murmansk celebrates 100-years anniversary in 2016. With the new passenger cruise terminal, new walkways and new railway station, central Murmansk will be opened with easy access to the seaside.  Development of cruise tourism in the Arctic is one of the strategic targets for Russian Arctic national park, today covering areas like Franz Josef Land and Novaya ...

Source:  http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/ports-may-be-thrown-open-to-students/ If the Union Shipping Ministry’s plan envisaged to bridge the awareness gap between ports and civil society sail through, country’s 12 Major Ports would get new visitors other than exporters, importers, stevedores, Custom House Agents – school students, in the coming weeks. Speaking to reporters here on Nov. 18 after launching Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects of Ennore Port worth more than Rs. 2 crores, Union Shipping Minister G. K. Vasan said that he would hold talks with his (Shipping) Secretary, Joint Secretaries and the Chairmen of all Central Government-run ports in this regard soon. He was responding to an instant on-stage request made by Mr. N.  Muruganandam, Joint Secretary (Shipping), Government of India. While addressing the beneficiaries at the event, Mr. Muruganandam, quoting a Media report which detailed that more than 10, 000 people (mostly students) had visite...

Source: http://www.freshplaza.com/article/115349/Honduras-Computer-assists-export-of-fresh-tomatoes Pic courtesy www.intergro.com Stranded at the border between Honduras and El Salvador enduring 40 degrees  temperatures, Ricardo Melgar could only think about his tomatoes slowly rotting. His  truck was carrying eight tonnes of tomatoes, from Comayagua, ready to be delivered  in the central market of San Salvador.  However, a simple error in the handwritten  export documents would cost him time and money. He would have to spend the night at  the border, waiting for the customs office to open in the morning so they could fix  this mess. "A single mistake could cost us eight to ten hours. This meant having to pay the  driver an extra night and, in many occasions, having to lose the entire cargo," he  recalled. Ricardo Melgar coordinates the administrative procedures of 17 small  Honduran exporters and has spent countless sleeples...

Ports to be evaluated on the basis of social equity: Vasan Source: http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/ports-should-plough-back-profit-portion-into-society/ The Shipping Ministry will soon start evaluating the 12 Union Government-run Major Ports on the basis of economic performance, social equity and environmental responsibility, Union Minister of Shipping G. K. Vasan has announced. Addressing the gathering during the launch of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects of Ennore Port Ltd (EPL) here, he said that ports, apart from earning revenues for the exchequer, should engage in environment protection activities and in discharging social responsibilities. The Minister stated: “Just as the ports have contributed to the growth of their hinterlands, people in its hinterlands have contributed to the growth of the ports. Hence, I directed the ports to set aside three per cent of their profits for CSR activities. Most of the ports have responded positively, and EPL is one...

source: Seatrade United Arab Shipping Company (S.A.G.) scooped three of the industry’s highest awards at the 10th Anniversary Seatrade Middle East & Indian Subcontinent Awards, held in Dubai on Nov 18. According to a media release, Ship Owner /Operator Awards; Shipping Company of the Year and Deal of the Year were all awarded to UASC who joined more than 800 of the who’s who of the region’s maritime and shipping industry at Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai. Known as the ‘Oscars’ of the maritime world, 29 awards were given to individuals, organisations and companies who were honoured from across the region during the glittering awards dinner which also saw a keynote address from guest of honour for the evening, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman, DP World. Mr Chris Hayman, Chairman of Seatrade, organisers of the event said, “ The companies that were both shortlisted for the awards and those that were winners have shown exemplary levels of achievement, in areas such as techn...

Source: http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/sarjak-expands-its-horizon/ Since its inception in October 2003 in Mumbai as an NVOCC, specialising in the  carriage of Over Dimensional Cargo (ODC), Sarjak Container Lines Pvt Ltd. (SCLPL) is  true to its foundational vision of expanding its services beyond the shores of India.  Completing its 10th anniversary, Sarjak seamlessly has established its footprints  across strategic commercial maritime hubs in a systematic manner. B etween 2004 and  2008 the company had expanded its resources in terms of containers, overseas agency  network across major Asian ports, human resources and back office IT/office  infrastructure. Expanding steadily, it forayed into Europe and Russia/Baltic in 2009, established a  service in the Mediterranean and Red Sea Ports and set up China operations in 2012  and further enlarged its service to the CIS countries, North African ports and Black  Sea Ports in 2013. ...

Source: http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/a-win-win-situation-for-concor-exim-traders/ In order to facilitate both EXIM and domestic consignments at Irugur Inland Container  Depot (ICD), Container Corporation of India Ltd. (CONCOR) had requested Indian  Customs for de-notifying a part of the area. B ased on the request, Commissioner of Customs, Coimbatore, has partially de-notified  CONCOR’s ICD at Irugur recently. According to EXIM players, t he de-notification would help CONCOR’s ICD at Irugur get  more business in the coming weeks. CONCOR has a facility of 43 acres at ICD-Irugur,  handling EXIM cargo at present. There are two warehouses having capacity of 20, 000  sq. ft. and 30,000 sq. ft. respectively. With this de-notification, apart from handling EXIM cargo, CONCOR can handle coastal  and domestic cargo also. CONCOR has 63 terminals all over India wherein EXIM / Domestic activities are taking  place and ICD-Irugur has now bec...

Source:  http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/freight-costs-to-mumbai-kandla-ports-to-come-down-sharply/ Freight costs for movement of goods from the hinterland in North India to Mumbai and Kandla ports are likely to come down sharply with the commissioning of the Mumbai-Delhi freight corridor by 2017,  Mr. Amitab Kant, Managing Director of the Corridor, has said. Currently 80 per cent of the freight in this region moves by road and once this corridor is commissioned the traffic will shift entirely to the rail mode, he said adding that it took nearly 14 days for a truck, on an average, carrying goods from North India to reach the Mumbai Port. T he corridor will ensure that the distance is covered within 14 hours, he said while addressing a seminar got up by the National Association of Container Freight Stations. The National Association of Container Freight Stations was founded in April 1994 in the Union Territory of Chandigarh with less than 10 members. The current st...

source: http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/the-emerging-edible-oil-hub-on-east-coast/ Krishnapatnam Port is slowly but steadily emerging as a hub for edible oil  refineries on the East Coast of India. It has become more evident from the fact that  there are over seven firms setting up their refineries near the port and a few more  are expected to finalise their plans soon. According to a senior port official, Krishnapatnam has attained the status of  preferred port among the edible oil producers in the country due to the dedicated  and quality infrastructure. The port has laid a direct pipeline without any branches with complete isolation  system to the plants directly, to unload edible oils from the ships to the storage  tanks in the plants . The port has provided a dedicated berth for edible oil vessels. The port has a 16” dia pipeline for discharge of edible oils which gives a very good  discharge rate compared to any other port in the c...

Source:http://lee-rhiannon.greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/joint-statement-sri-lanka-sri-lanka-should-not-host-chogm Joint Statement by  Australian Greens Senator Rhiannon and New Zealand Green MP Jan Logie : Contact:   Lee Rhiannon:   +61 487 350 880 and Jan Logie: +64 21038 6101  A delegation of Australian and New Zealand MPs at the conclusion of their fact  finding visit to Sri Lanka have found that the ongoing abuses of human and legal  rights are so serious that the Commonwealth meeting scheduled for Colombo should not  proceed and that the Sri Lanka government should not be given the chair of CHOGM for  the next two years . Senator Lee Rhiannon from Australia and Jan Logie MP from New Zealand have been on a  fact finding visit to Sri Lanka. Both MPs will report to their respective parliaments  on their findings next week. Joint statement from Senator Lee Rhiannon and MP Jan Logie: “If CHOGM goes ahead and if ...

No application will be accepted in person Source: http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/no-more-scramble-for-cdc-it-goes-online/ Bringing an end to the ordeal of hordes of seafarers swarming the Shipping Master’s Office for Continuous Discharge Certificates (CDCs), DG Shipping has adopted a passport e-governance kind of online application model to ‘individual category CDC’ applicants where an individual can go to the DG Shipping website, log in and fill up the relevant details and take the print out of the filled-in form and enclose it with appropriate testimonials that can apparently be dispatched to the respective Shipping Masters’ Office. The enabling of electronic submission for CDC and postal submission of print outs obviate the hassles of personal commuting of seafarers to the Shipping Master’s Office with the DG Shipping strictly directing that ‘No application will be accepted in person’, say the industry watchers. However, electronic mode of submission is not applicable...