The Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan indicated on Wednesday that coal and iron ore would be moved out of Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) as the Centre attached utmost importance to people's welfare.
Commenting on the Madras High Court order that called for moving dirty cargoes to Ennore Port, Mr. Vasan said that Secretary of Shipping will be meeting the Chennai Port officials in this regard soon. Thereafter, a decision would be taken.
Clean cargo transhipment centre
Addressing the seafarers and port officials at the launch of India's first cruise ship, Mr. Vasan said that after the shifting of dirty cargoes, Chennai Port would become a clean cargo transhipment centre in the East Coast that would handle containers, cars and cruise. As the process would affect the livelihood of several hundreds of Port employees, the views of all the stakeholders would be taken into consideration.
Mr. Vasan also said that an official announcement regarding the commencement of ferry services between Tuticorin and Colombo would be made in the next 10 to 15 days. “It is a long-felt dream of the people. The Ministry of Shipping is taking all steps to launch the services at the earliest.
