The Cochin Port Trust (CPT) in a joint venture with the Inland Waterway Authority of India (IWAI) has launched ro-ro/lo-lo (roll on-roll off/ lift on-lift off) barge connectivity to the new International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) coming up at Vallarpadam by opening new terminal jetties at Willingdon Island and Bolghatty.
SP Gaur, chairman of IWAI, commissioned the terminals on Friday at a function presided over by N Ramachandran, chairman, CPT.
The two terminals have been constructed at a cost of Rs 16 crore provided by IWAI. The jetty has been designed to meet the heaviest container load that may be imported or exported.
In addition to reducing road congestion and pollution, the new corridor can generate cost-effective transit for containers from the cashew export belt of Kollam and coir export belt of Alappuzha. Seafood processing plants in the Aroor area of Alappuzha district can make a straight water corridor to the port.
The traffic in the water way is estimated to increase from the present 700,000 to 2.6 million tonnes in the initial year itself.
A joint management committee of CPT and IWAI will be supervising the barge operations, which will commence with the commissioning of ICTT. The private sector operator for the barge movement will be selected through a competitive bidding procedure, a port trust press release said.