Saravanan's Blog

Port Wings Editorial - Issue-11 Source: http://www.portwings.in/editorial/exorbitant-airfare-conundrum-is-andaman-an-alien-territory-within-india/ After the end of World War-II, there were rumours that the Japanese Government, which held the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for three years between 1942-45 and abruptly withdrew after Hiroshima bombings, had strongly demanded the then Indian government to hand over the islands to them to develop it as Japan’s overseas territory. Though the then Indian government did not budge on the Japanese demand, the exorbitant airfares to Port Blair for the last few years, the capital city of the 572-islands chain in Bay of Bengal, force the people living in India and like to travel there to think Andaman is indeed Japan’s Overseas Territory. The air tickets that were earlier available at a very nominal rate, sometimes even below Rs. 4000, now cost more than Rs. 10,000/ for one way between Port Blair-Chennai-Port Blair or Port Blair-Kolka...

Source: http://www.portwings.in/articlesinterviews/economic-competitiveness-package-is-a-matter-of-high-priority-at-wco-ifcba-chairman/ Port Wings News Network: ‘Economic Competitiveness Package’ (ECP) is currently a matter of high priority at the World Customs Organization (WCO), Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar, immediate past Chairman of Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations In India (FFFAI)  and the Chairman of International Federation of Customs Brokers Association (IFCBA) has said . In an exclusive interview to Port Wings , the industry veteran spoke on different topics including the current status and future of freight forwarders. Excerpts… Q. Tell us about the status and prospects of freight forwarding industry in India? Mr Shantanu Bhadkamkar: Historically, Customs (and therefore Customs Brokers) has played an important role in International Trade. Customs Duty for Import, Export and Transit constituted important source revenue for the governments....

Source: http://www.portwings.in/ports/breakbulk-bottleneck-trade-seeks-more-facilities-from-chennai-port/ Po rt Wings News Network: While the Chennai Port management has contained the congestion of container trailers to a certain extent, sudden increase in breakbulk activities has forced the authorities to burn midnight oil to overcome congestion caused by heavy vehicles carrying breakbulk cargoes including steel coils. Though the Port authorities are happy that the cargo handling is growing steadily after months of negative growth, taming the bottlenecks emerging after the surge in breakbulk should be the priority for the port , say the trade. According to sources, Chennai Port is witnessing steady growth in the last few months and recently the port has successfully handled three fertilizer-laden vessels at a time . Besides, low port charges have made Chennai a major destination for import of steel coils by different companies. According to a regular importer, since t...

Source:http://www.portwings.in/articlesinterviews/time-for-schools-of-excellence-in-maritime-education-dr-p-vijayan/ Port Wings News Network: The need of the hour is to start Schools of Excellence as much as possible in every year of maritime education, Dr. P. Vijayan, the First Vice-Chancellor of the Indian Maritime University and now the Director of IMU’s Chennai Campus, has said. In an exclusive interview to Port Wings, Dr Vijayan said that more researches has to be taken up and funding for such research studies should be liberal. He also spoke elaborately on the present and future of Maritime Education and Training. Excerpts… Q: Tell us about the background and objective of formation of Indian Maritime University? Mr Vijayan:  The Maritime Industry was longing for a University to take care of maritime studies, training, research in the fields of Ports, maritime history, maritime law, security, transportation, environmental studies and other related fie...

Source:http://www.portwings.in/articlesinterviews/lack-of-cooperation-from-tamil-nadu-govt-kills-centres-projects-trivedi/ Port Wings News Network: In a federal setup like India,  we (Centre) can only make repeated requests to the state governments to support Centre-initiated projects and we cannot wage a war against them for not heeding to our requests , Dr. Vishwapati Trivedi, I.A.S., Secretary, Ministry of Shipping, has said. Speaking to Port Wings on the sidelines of the launching of a new vessel service by the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) from Chennai to Yangon (Myanmar) at Chennai Container Terminal on Oct 3, the Shipping Secretary spoke on various issues pertaining to Shipping Ministry. Excerpts… Q: Why the congestion at Chennai Port is still continuing? VT: The port in Singapore, though located in the city, has better road and bridge connectivity and manages the inflow and outflow of vehicles easily. Unless until the connectivity project...

Source:  http://www.portwings.in/articlesinterviews/emergence-of-bangladesh-is-a-major-concern-to-tirupur-garment-exports-sakthivel/ Port Wings News Network: The emergence of Bangladesh is a major concern to Tirupur garment exports, Mr A Sakthivel, President, Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) has said. In an exclusive interview to Port Wings, TEA president shared his views on the growth of Dollar City over the years, emergence of Bangladesh and China in garment exports, and the need for more infrastructure facilities to keep Tirupur as world’s top garment export destination. Excerpts of the interview… Q: Tell us about your growth and the industry you are representing? Mr A Sakthivel : Tirupur, a knitwear hub and a natural cluster, is exporting knitwear garments globally and Tirupur export turnover was US $3 million in 1984 and now recorded US $3 billion in 2014 in 30 years. Q: As the president of the influential Tirupur Exporters Association, how do you t...