By Sarojini P
Visakhapatnam (CWBN)_Visakhapatnam Port Trust, one of the leading major ports of India, carried out its operation under lockdown conditions during the pandemic shook the entire Shipping Industry across the nation as well as the global Shipping Industry.
As per the official press release, Mr. K. Rammohana Rao, Chairman of the Visakhapatnam Port Trust, announced that the Visakhapatnam Port Trust transported 32.77 million tons of cargo in the first half of the 2020-21 of the financial year and is set to target or even confident of exceeding the target of 70 million tons in the future. During the same period last fiscal year, it shipped 34.75 million tons.
According to the deputy chairman of Visakhapatnam Port Trust PL. Haranadh, the port had achieved the highest growth of 3 million tons of additional cargo in the current financial year, which brings it to the third position among all major ports. The sensational news that Visakhapatnam Port Trust is completing its 86 years of existence on October 7 paves a way for a grand celebration on its foundation day. A series of activities and objectives have been planned to mark the foundation day, which includes opening its operation to the school children as well as the general public on October 6 and 7.
The Chairman added “The Visakhapatnam Port Trust handled a total of 1056 vessels in the first half of the 2019 financial year. The trust made 1016 vessels between April and September this fiscal year”, and the Visakhapatnam Port Trust has, so far, spent 2,000 Crores in PPP mode to fully automate cargo handlings such as coal and iron.
The Chairman said that all 12 major ports in the country handled a volume of 245 million tons during April to August in 2020 as compared to 294 million tons in the last year. A decline of 16.5% has been registered. The fact that VPT has achieved this target despite the pandemic season is a great achievement. The additional news is that the second terminal would be opened by 2022, which would make VPT a container hub terminal.
Port of Visakhapatnam is one of the leading major ports of India and is located almost midway between Kolkata on the North and Chennai towards the South on the East Coast. This ideal position of the port bestows it with the advantage of making it the most preferred port for transport cargo by rail to Nepal. VPT has become the second gateway next to Kolkata, fast replacing it in view of greater efficiency and electronic cargo systems.
