The roll-on roll-off barge service carrying container lorries to the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) continued to be disrupted on Thursday, with the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) cancelling its contract with the operator.
A spokesman for Lots Shipping Limited, the service operator, said the Chief Engineer of the CPT had served the termination notice invoking a clause in the service contract.
He added that it was not Lots Shipping that had called off the service, but it would be illegal to operate the service as the company had already received the termination notice.
Violation of contract
CPT sources said the security deposit was part of the contract, and that the service operator had failed to deposit a security of ₹7.5 lakh.
The termination notice was served for violation of the agreement, they added.
According to CPT sources, the ro ro service was introduced under the joint initiative of the CPT and the Inland Waterways Authority of India.
The CPT had asked the operator to deposit ₹25 lakh. But it was brought down, with the operator citing inability to raise the money. It was initially brought down to ₹15 lakh and subsequently to ₹7.5 lakh. The CPT claimed that the barge operator had failed to deposit the amount.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for Lots Shipping said the initial security deposit was based on an assured cargo volume of 750 TEUs per day. However, the volume had come to down to around 75 TEUs, and it became unviable to operate the service.
Besides, he said the CPT had the responsibility to ensure that the channel was three-metre deep.
However, the depth was much less than the specified measure, because of which the barge had to undergo repair off and on.
The ro-ro service was launched in 2011 to decongest roads as container lorries reaching Willingdon Island could easily be transported by barge to Vallarpadam.
