With renewed hopes and in pursuit of better prospects, the operators of coastal sail vessels resumed cargo shipping from Tuticorin coast after a rough weather was over.
Now, the sail vessel owners’ associations of Tuticorin and Cuddalore started unprecedented cooperation and collaboration after entering into a settlement of uniform fixation of freight charges to facilitate port users in Beypore and Mangalore, S. Lasington Fernando, secretary, Tuticorin Coastal Mechanised Sail Vessel Owners’ Association, told The Hindu here on Wednesday.
The move would certainly offset the cut-throat competition and benefit the stakeholders relying on this sail vessel industry.
So far, freight charges were not regulated and this traditional mode of cargo shipments remained unorganised, he said.
Cargoes such as furniture, construction materials, mattresses, vegetables, cow dung manure and perishable items would normally be shipped to Maldives and Lakshadweep Islands.
Besides, wheat, oil cake and cotton bale would be shipped from Gujarat.
Thirty sail vessels from Tuticorin had been engaged in this traditional mode of cargo transit.
Mr. Fernando also said that representatives of these sail vessel owners associations had recently met Kerala Ports Minister K. Babu at Beypore and sought his intervention to establish more facilities for the vessel crew men at Beypore Port and also to bring down the abnormal charges for wharfage, port dues, channel charges and pilotage.
Despite having three shore cranes at Beypore Port, such equipment went out of order often owing to lack of maintenance. Hence, more cranes should be kept for speedy clearance of cargo, he said.
“We make a sizeable contribution to the port sector. Charges of Rs.25,000 are normally paid for one voyage from Beypore Port to Lakshadweep Islands, whereas it requires only Rs.7,000 for a voyage from Mangalore Port to the Lakshadweep Islands”, he said.
