Sept 28, 2016: The first call of a car carrier ship, MV Dresden made its maiden visit at Cochin Port on September 26. The ship is a foreign carrier of Cyprus registration, which has obtained license for coastal run between the ports in India, and is of 177 m length and 7 m draft. The car carrier has the circuit of Ennore-Cochin-Kandla-Cochin-Ennore, connecting the automobile production hubs in Tamil Nadu in the East coast and Gujarat and Haryana in the west of India. The ship has 13 decks with the capacity to carry 4,300 cars. The car carrier will be landing 500 carsat Cochin.
The operator of the Car Carrier is SICAL Logistics-based in Chennai, which is a leading player in bulk operations in many ports and operates a Coal Terminal at Ennore. The car carriers, which are Roll on-Roll off (Ro-Ro) ships, are highly productive with automobiles being driven in and out of the ship. The operator will be carrying the vehicles of Renault, Ford, Hyundai and Toyota from Tamil Nadu and Honda and Ford from Gujarat. The operator is also targeting Maruti. The Steamer Agent of the car carrier at Cochin is Neo Logistics.
Car handling requires highly clean surroundings and storage area of high quality. Cochin Port has identified the Q7 berth at Ernakulam Wharf for handling the ship, and a clean yard of 4,000 square metre area at Q7 is allotted for storage of cars until delivery to the dealers, which is normally expected in a week’s time. Car handling is highly prestigious, and at adequate volumes could be a steady source of income of about Rs 3 to 6 crores per annum to the port in addition to the significant contribution in environmental safety by eliminating thousands of trucks from the road and the resultant emission savings.
The new business is the culmination of sustained efforts of Cochin Port. The Port has offered rebates in Port charges in advance towards attracting the business; concessional Wharfage of Rs 500 per car and Rs 900 per truck, and 50 percent rebate in the notified Vessel Related Charges.