CMA CGM is diverting containers from India’s busiest container port Nhava Sheva as terminal operations continue to be hampered by congestion.
The French carrier said it believed the situation was starting to improve, but meanwhile is diverting containers, with client approval, to the Indian port of Mundra, located north of Nhava Sheva on thewest coast. CMA CGM’s Line Manager for Europe and Indian Subcontinent, Christophe de La Ferrière, told IFW the congestion was caused by the high number of imports stuck in Nhava Sheva’s terminals: JNPCT, NSICT and GTI. “This is due to poor evacuation of the imports containers towards the various inland container depots,” he said.
“Productivity at the terminals is also impacted by delays in docking/sailing the vessels due to shortage of pilots in Nhava Sheva. “Transit times to final destination for import containers are affected. It is also sometimes causing delays, mainly for containers coming by rail from inland origins.”
To combat the delays to containers moved by rail, CMA CGM was using trucks as often as possible. De La Ferrière said that if containers missed the ship they were booked on, they would be delayed forseven days. However, he was optimistic the congestion would ease as the rail operator was increasing the frequency of its services. “The rail operator has taken action to ease the situation with an increased number of trains,” de La Ferrière said. “For instance, last week, 43 trains departed from Nhava Sheva to Delhi when the usual quantum is between 20 and 25.
“A total of 101 trains have been dispatched to all destinations. The inventory of containers has been reduced by 21% over the past two weeks.”
Last week, Maersk Line said containers were being “severely” delayed at the port, following a double-digit increase in container volumes during April and May. The Danish carrier was concerned that, with the monsoon and peak seasons approaching, it would be some time before operations returned to normal.
To try and mitigate the delays, Maersk had diverted all its traffic to and from northern Indian inland container depots via Pipavav, India, to help ease the congestion and provide better transit times.
Figures recently released by the Indian Ports Association reveal that container volumes at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), which operates much of the port, increased by almost 17% year-on-year during the April-May period, to hit 751,000teu.
Source: Damian Brett, IFW News, 15 May 2010