KOCHI: The Kochi port on Sunday received the first coastal consignment of steel from Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL). The arrival of the consignment is the result of efforts by the Union government under the ‘Sagarmala’ project to move cargo along coastal routes.
The Centre has embarked on an ambitious development project for sea ports. “Coastal shipping is one among the several initiatives under Sagarmala, the flagship development project of the Ministry of Shipping,” said a press release here on Monday.
MV Sabarimalai , the coastal cargo vessel carried 5,000 tonnes of steel consignment from RINL’s Visakhapatnam plant. It was the first steel consignment from RINL which was moved by the coastal route. The company used to transport its consignments for distribution in Kerala by rail.
On arrival, the Kochi Port Trust traffic manager welcomed the captain of the ship in the presence of officials of the port, RINL Cochin, and Shreyas Shipping and stevedores.
On October 31, the Union Ministers of Shipping and Steel had jointly flagged off the first coastal consignment from the Visakhapatnam Port. MV Sabarimalai had left Visakhapatnam on November 8.
According to the present plan, around 10,000 tonnes of steel consignments from RINL are expected every month, and companies like SAIL and JINDAL may start such services in the near future, giving additional cargo volume to the port.
