Taking all precautions to contain the spread of coronavirus, the government has not allowed to disembark about 57,000 crew and passengers onboard 1,769 ships, mostly from China, since January 27, an official said on Thursday.
All these crew and passengers underwent thermal scanning, as per the WHO guidelines, the official added.
"Adhering to all precautions and laid-down protocols to prevent any further spread of COVID-19, cargo was handled at Ports. No shore passes or daily passes were issued to these 56,727 crew and passengers on board 1,769 vessels reaching Indian Ports till April 21," the official told PTI.
The 1,769 ships reached the Indian ports with cargo between January 27 and April 21. Of these, as many as 1,401 ships reached major ports and were allowed anchoring at designated places for loading/unloading of export-import cargo.
Of the 57,727 crew and passengers onboard these ships, 49,750 reached the major ports, the official said.
India has 12 major ports -- Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), V O Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) that handled nearly 705 million tonnes (MT) cargo in 2019-20.
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For maintaining smooth operations across ports, the shipping ministry has initiated a number of steps that include waiving of rentals.
The government has asked all major ports to ensure that no penalties, demurrage, charges, fee, rentals are levied on any port user (traders, shipping lines, concessionaires, licensees etc) for any delay in berthing or loading/unloading operations or evacuation of cargo caused by the reasons attributable to lockdown measures from March 22.
Besides, for existing and operational PPP projects, major ports can permit waiver of all penal consequences on a case-to-case basis along with deferment of certain performance obligations.
The official said hospitals across the major port trusts have been supplied with personal protective equipment (PPE) and the arrangement of sufficient staff round the clock has been made.
Ports and PSUs under the Ministry of Shipping have contributed more than Rs 52 crore from the CSR funds towards PM CARES Fund.
Besides, employees of ports, PSUs and other offices of the ministry have contributed over Rs 7 crore from their salaries towards PM CARES Fund. The number of vessels handled by ports during 2019-20 was around 20,837 against 20,853 vessels in 2018-19.