Table 4.26 Portwise Coastal Container Traffic Handled
Ports TEUs Handled
Mumbai 18000
JNP 81000
Kandla 27000
Tuticorin 18000
Cochin 18000
* Consultants Primary data (Year2001-02)
The container volume mentioned above constitutes mainly of laden empty International
containers that were handled along the coast during the particular period. On detailed
investigation it is observed that
• The movement of International containers is predominantly laden for containers
moving in to JNPT the only port where majority of transshipment is taking place
today. Similarly the traffic carried from JNPT to other ports is significantly less in
terms of volume and constitutes a large volume of empties. This shows that the
decision of a shipping line for use of an Indian transshipment port is of very complex
nature.
• Containers continued to be transshipped from Indian ports to foreign ports even when
Coastal service is available for connectivity to the transshipment at JNPT port.
• Although main line vessels are calling at Tuticorin and Chennai, no transshipment is
taking place at these two ports for boxes of other Indian ports. Since Chennai is
located on East Coast and Main line services to Far East destinations are operated
from Chennai some movement of containers from/to other Indian ports should have
been evident.
Chapter 4: Coastal Traffic Estimates
4 - 39
• Mother vessels continue to use near by foreign hub port like Colombo, UAE for off
loading containers for India instead of over-carrying them to JNPT port where they
have a scheduled port call immediately before or after the foreign hub port.
• Mundra, Pipavav, Chennai, Vizag, Tuticorin ports have been developed with private
participation mainly to attract Main Line vessels but the absence of any transshipment
activities at these ports is very conspicuous.
• Mother vessel operations, routings, their trading areas and ports of call, are very vital
elements that go in to selection of a transshipment port by a main line.
However the container growth in India is expected to increase following liberalisation
with private sector demonstrating its readiness to participate in infrastructure
development. There is also the possibility of international standard transshipment
facilities coming up at Chennai and JNPT to begin with so as to spare the EXIM trade
players to bother off moving of their international cargo to / from India through foreign
ports. These developments will have a positive impact on the growth of development of
coastal shipping.
The privatisation policies and open economic scenario being pursued by the government
and the probabilities of establishment of transshipment hubs that can divert the Indian
EXIM cargo from the existing hub ports like Colombo, Singapore etc. This in turn will
lead to increase in container movements via coastal shipping based on the hub and spoke
concept. However, Consultants are of the opinion that this scenario is at very elementary
stage and the traffic that can be attracted by the hub ports will depend on the market
forces and the competitiveness of these terminals in terms of their productivity and tariffs.
Modal Share
The modal share of container movement based on collected data and discussions with the
actual operators for 2002-03 shows that 3 percent of containers moved by coastal
shipping. Table 4.27 below shows the modal split of container movement.
Table 4.27 Modal Share of Container Traffic
Mode TEU's Handled % Share
Rail 0.9 32
Road 1.81 65
CS 0.081 3
Total 2.791 100
d) Future Container Movement
Decadal statistics (1993-2002) shows a compounded annual growth in Indian container
volumes to be 13-14 per cent. This trend is likely to continue. Globally containerisation
of general cargo has progressed steadily in the last decade, and now stands at nearly
around 80 percent of general cargo volumes generated.
In the year 2002-03 container traffic in India was at 43.67 million tonnes or 3.36 million
TEUs.
Chapter 4: Coastal Traffic Estimates
4 - 40
Share of Coastal Shipping
General cargo volume is expected to reach 120 MTPA and 160 MTPA by 2006-07 and
2011-12 respectively.
The Consultants assumed that the containerisation level would attain 55 to 60 percent in
the next ten years. Keeping in line the above explanation and assumption, the container
traffic projected will be 5.0 and 7.4 MTEUs for the above horizon years.
Assuming the shares of coastal shipping as coastal shipping 4 percent and 5 percent for
the years 2006-07 and 2011-12, the container traffic is worked out to be 0.2 and 0.4
MTEUs in the respective years.
4.11 SUMMARY OF COMMODITY-WISE TRAFFIC
Table 4.28 presents the consolidated commodity-wise forecast for the years 2006-07 and
2011-2012.
Table 4.28 Summary of Traffic Estimates by Coastal Shipping
in million tonnes
Commodity 2001-02 2006-07 2011-12
Crude 16.00 16.00 16.00
POL 12.70 25.00 32.50
Coal 15.90 20.00 25.00
Iron Ore 4.66 9.75 13.30
Iron & steel 0.28 0.76 1.04
Cement 3.16 8.65 13.00
Sub Total 52.70 80.16 100.84
Others 0.26 0.52 1.04
Subtotal 52.96 80.68 101.88
Containers 1.04 2.60 5.20
Total 54.00 83.28 107.08
4.12 PORTWISE ESTIMATED TRAFFIC
Based on the previous observed distributions of goods traffic by coastal shipping and
taking into consideration the growth patterns along with location specific development
plans, the Consultants have estimated future traffic movements for the years 2006-7 and
2011-12 port-wise. As already explained, these are broad estimates of future traffic that
are predicted based on the observed movement patterns (during last four years), previous
studies made and the developmental activities in the areas surrounding the ports. From
Table 4.29 to 4.32 depict the estimated commodity-wise handling activities at selected
major and non-major ports for the years 2006-07 and 2011-12. However, there are several
uncertainties in container movements especially in minor ports, which are still awaiting
modernisation and will demand large investments. For these reasons the Consultants have
refrained from drawing any definitive conclusions about movement of containers in
Indian ports.
Chapter 4: Coastal Traffic Estimates
4 - 41
4.13 RETURN CARGO
Information on the origin and destination details of the coastal cargo was gathered during
the visits to ports from the corresponding port officials and also consulted the published
documents on port statistics. Origin-Destination (O-D) matrices were developed for the
year 2002-2003 for selected commodities using the information collected (presented in
chapter 3). From the O-D matrices, it was evident that return cargo is not available for
(major commodities) coastal movement except for the O-D pair Vishakapatnam-
Magdalla. There was a movement of Iron ore of 3 million tonnes from Vishakapatnam to
Magdalla and Iron &Steel was moved from Magdalla to South and East Coast of India.
There is a large quantity of coal movement between Paradip-Chennai and POL movement
between Chennai-Paradip. However, the nature of commodities, demands different types
of vessels. In the present situation, return cargo is available for container traffic between
Gujarat ports-JNPT-Cochin-Tuticorin.
However, Consultants believe that in future, if the recommendations proposed in the
report are implemented market for coastal traffic will mature and return cargo in terms of
container traffic would be available between Mumbai-Chennai, Mumbai-Gujarat ports,
Gujarat ports-Cochin/Tuticorin.
