The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : KSINC explores possibility of starting container carrier, junkar service

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

KSINC explores possibility of starting container carrier, junkar service

By John L Paul

KOCHI, JUNE 9 . The Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) is exploring the possibility of starting two new junkar services to Wellingdon Island and one to Mattancherry.

As of now there is no junkar service to Vypeen. The KSINC has also proposed a container-carrier service through the national waterways.

Talks were held here today between the managing director of the KSINC, Satheesh K.N., and the Cochin Port Trust Chairman, Jacob Thomas, in this regard. The two new junkars, which were earlier operating between Ernakulam and Vypeen, will now ply between Vypeen and Wellingdon Island. However, the existing junkar service between Vypeen and Ernakulam will continue. A new ramp will be built by the CPT in the Wellingdon Island so that junkars can be berthed there. It will also have the facility for berthing the proposed container-carrier service.

Mr. Satheesh said that the talks with Mr. Thomas ended on an encouraging note. The junkar services from Ernakulam and Vypeen to Mattancherry would be a reality once the proposed landing ramp got ready in Mattancherry. The junkar services to Mattancherry, Vypeen and the Wellingdon Island will considerably reduce the commuting time between the areas as compared to the road route, he said.

"The junkar plying between Vypeen and Ernakulam will be pulled out of service if there are not enough passengers in it. It will be strengthened and the length increased with the help of Naval architects, to convert it into a container carrier, which can carry six 20-feet containers. The work can be done at the boat-building yard of the KSINC in Thopumpady," he said.

Mr. Satheesh said if the junkar services kicks off, a new container carrier would be made by the KSINC, at a cost of around Rs.1.5 crore. The carrier could ply through the National Waterway III, bringing cashew nuts, coir carpets, raw husk of coir etc to Kochi from Kollam and Alappuzha. The containers will be carried in roll-on, roll-off barges (ro-ro vessels), which can be pulled out of the carrier vessel using trailers. The KSINC had the technical know-how to improvise on the junkar or build the carrier, Mr Satheesh added.

"Transporting huge containers through the waterways is a very cost-effective and environment-friendly method. This will also reduce traffic congestion on the roads, particularly on the highways. It will also in a way help the Vallarpadam container terminal project, since produce from water-side factories can be easily transported through the water bodies. The terminals being constructed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) can be made use of to berth such carriers," he said.

He said that with the opening of the Goshree bridges and fall in number of passengers using ferry services and junkars, talks would soon be held between officials of the KSINC and the State Water Transport Department (SWTD), in the presence of the Transport Minister. This is to prevent the agencies from transgressing into each other's territory.

He said that the Transport Minister, R. Balakrishna Pillai, would on June 12 inaugurate the first skate (a flat, steel-bodied passenger boat with a passenger capacity of 150) built by the KSINC for the SWTD. The Corporation had got the order to build 11 steel and 10 fibre boats for the SWTD.

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