Shipping company drops cargo service along Kerala coast

Kannur: The cargo service introduced by the Kerala Maritime Board linking Kochi, Beypore, Azhikkal and Kollam ports has been abandoned by shipping company J M Baxi Group.

According to company officials, the decision was taken citing the failure of authorities in setting up the required infrastructure for moving cargo and the non-sanctioning of incentives, despite dues crossing Rs 1 crore.

Ship conducted 43 services in nine months

Chowgule – 8, owned by J M Baxi Group, had been providing cargo shipping facilities along the Kerala coast. The ship, which was flagged off by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in August last year, conducted 43 services, carrying 3,330 containers in the past nine months.

The ship, which arrived in Kochi from Beypore yesterday, was to move to Goa in the coming days. J M Baxi Group is planning to operate new services along the Mumbai-Gujarat coast.

Lack of depth in Beypore, Azhikkal major hindrance

Chowgule – 8 can carry 106 containers of 20 feet each at a time. However, due to the lack of depth in Beypore and Azhikkal channels, the ship could load only less than half of its capacity. It is difficult to carry even 20 containers to Azhikkal port, where dredging has not taken place for years. The situation has come to such a pass that the ship has to wait off coast till the water level rises, costing the company fuel and time worth lakhs.

Though the Maritime Board has decided to increase the depth of Azhikkal channel by seven metres through reverse dredging method, which hardly incurs any cost, the port department is yet to give its permission.

The failure in properly setting up Customs' Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system at Azhikkal and Beypore is another reason that has caused hindrance in handling international cargo.