Fifth day on, strike paralyses Cochin Port

The statewide lorry strike, which entered the fifth day on Thursday, has seriously affected the cargo movement at the Cochin port.

The Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal (RGCT) is the most hit arm of the port and, according to official sources, at least 2,000 container boxes are kept on the terminal waiting for container trucks.

Suresh Joseph, general manager, India Gateway Terminals Private Limited (IGTPL), which operates the terminal, told Business Standard that for the last five days the working of the terminal had been paralysed and no container was moving in or out of the terminal since April 1.

"The strike has terribly affected our business, even though I am not able to quantify the loss immediately. It is very difficult to do business in an atmosphere like this," he said.

On an average, 250 container boxes are brought to the terminal for export to various destinations and around 500 containers are being handled on a daily basis.

In view of the strike continuing indefinitely, he said, cargo would be diverted to other ports like Tuticorin and Mangalore. Cochin port is facing serious competition from these ports as they, especially Tuticorin, are offering attractive discounts on port handling charges in order to attract more cargo.

The situation has worsened as the strike had commenced on the same day of the beginning of the new financial year, he added.

During the last financial year, mainline vessels connecting Europe and US coast had started to call on Cochin port and any hindrance to the movement of cargo will force these vessels to berth on other neighbouring ports.

Port sources said that bulk cargo movement would also be affected if the strike continues. At present, the port has bulk cargo of products like potash, timber logs and industrial pipes that have to be moved out of the stockyards of the port.

It will be difficult to berth new bulk cargo vessels unless the current stock is cleared. If the strike continues for a couple of days more, the port will be the most hit area as it is the gateway to Kerala and other neighbouring industrial zones like Coimbatore.

Meanwhile, a large number of containers are kept at the railway marshalling yard also for want of trucks to transport them to the port. Various commercial chambers and trade organisations too are in troubled situation since they fear their overseas orders might get cancelled.

Sources in the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) said if the strike continued further, the marine export industry would be in trouble as the new fiscal had just started.