Industry bodies, be it Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) or the Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), they all have been running from pillar to post (read port) for the container services at MPA to come back on track. The services have been hampered for the last six months due to inefficient Harbour Mobile Cranes (HMC) and inordinate delays in custom clearances etc. In fact, it was completely closed for a month last year.
CII in its joint recommendation letter to the Union Minister of State for Tourism and Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shripad Naik, had requested development of MPA infrastructure with efficient and more numbers of HMC.
Currently MPA has only one HMC to handle the cargo, which is already obsolete and needs immediate replacement. The GCCI had also written to Union Minister of Port, Shipping, Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal.
Due to stoppage of container services, the cargo is now diverted to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai. It means that there is an extra load on road traffic. Experts told Herald that “It will take another six months for numbers to increase to 600 (twenty foot equivalent unit) TEUs, which will be satisfactory for the feeder operator.”
Clement Rebello, Director at Orient Box Movers who set the first container yard at Verna Industrial Estate, narrated that he was partner with MPA and was sharing revenue at 59:41 ratio about 6-7 years ago. “I invested about Rs 10 crore to open the yard at Verna to decongest the Port. My point is the MPA can still do the container business but why are they not doing it? Secondly, why are the containers going by road to JNPT Mumbai when we have facilities for both import and export in Goa? In fact MPA is doing very well. Bali is not a solution. Sada bridge was especially built to promote the port. I have no idea why they are going slow,” Rebello said.
He lamented that due to all this, his business was disrupted and his Verna container yard went empty as the there were no container. “I had to sell off my trailers in Mumbai as it was not being utilised. The utility of these trailers were basically in the port. I have lost heavily due to this issue,” he said.
Former Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Goa Chapter and also a member of the Barge Owners’ Association Atul Jadhav said, “The bigger ship which carries 400 TEUs had called on to MPA at the request of various industry associations. However, the number of containers was less and the facility to load and unload the containers was not available many times. Because of this the ship used lost revenue.”
He further added that the Deputy Chairman of MPA had also agreed in the conclave of Gati Shakti that the MPA did not have funds to acquire a new crane to load and unload the containers. This resulted in losses to the ship owner and all connected with this operation.
“An economically viable solution could be to convert the inland barges to ‘Statement of Compliance’ barge so that they could be used as feeder service to container transportation to JNPT or Mundra or Cochin Ports. Containers to be transported via Sri Lanka could be sent by the same vessels by signing a protocol with the Government of Sri Lanka as done with Government of Bangladesh. Bigger ships have higher running costs and the demurrage,” suggested Jadhav.
The Deputy Chairman of MPA Guruprasad Rai said, “The port is functional and one liner is coming but the container traffic is not there. Our customers want more HMC and for that we are trying to procure funds from the Centre for increasing the number of HMCs. In another 5-6 months this will materialise.”
The CII in its letter to the Central government has mentioned that reservation of berth No. 10 and 11 for specific container cargo should be done. Also, it should be made economically viable for the feeder operator for a period of six months, “We request 75 per cent discount on all ‘Vessel related charges’ and 50 per cent discount ‘Cargo Handling Charges’ of the present HMC.
The letter also mentioned that MPA has been charging quiet higher on vessel cargo handling operations, berthing and idle charges. An unnecessary levy is being charged for non-use of port crane operators per shift called ‘charge of Port Idling’ and ‘gang charges’ per shift are being levied when using the vessel crane with private operators. These charges need to be fully waived off as no private operators are operating any more. It needs immediate incentives to boost up trade from MPA.
“MPT also intends to increase the rent of the offices allotted to the Customs House Agents. Since last ten years, due to lack of business on account of stoppage of iron ore exports, the service sectors of CHAs have been affected to a large extent. Hence, the revision of rent should be kept in abeyance,” demanded CII.
The Chairman of the Logistics Committee of the Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industries (GCCI) Chandrakant Gawas said, “Mining has stopped and therefore we have supported the MPA to develop the container business by creating infrastructure. However, the business did not pick up much. Their (MPA) HMC used to break down very frequently and the output was low. If the infrastructure is proper we all will come back to MPA. The container movement is now taking place through road which is more expensive with the rise in fuel prices.”
Gawas further added that MPA is under-utilised the vessel size quantity is not coming to the port. “I am told that MPA is also looking for small ticket business, which I think may help to build the confidence.
Sources in the pharmaceutical industry in Goa said that majority of their cargo was moving through road from Goa to Mumbai as the uncertainty and procedural delays during exports weren’t feasible for the pharmaceutical industries to transport their product, which have critical shelf life.
Rajiv Jalota, Chairman Mormugao Port Authority (Additional Charge), during an interaction with the media recently, informed that Mormugao Port was planning for redevelopment of Berth No. 9 and three barge jetties on PPP mode for handling iron ore exported from Goa.
He added that the terminal will be fully mechanised at an expected cost of Rs 842 crore with capacity enhancements of 12 MMTPA. The terminal will be boon to mining industries, barges along with small and medium scale entreprises (SMEs) in Goa.
