JNPT congestion eases, but costly cargo diversion hits port

MUMBAI's Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), India's major container operation, has been returning to normal, but a serious backlog remains with cargo awaiting loading, aggravated the diversion of ships to less congested ports.


Congestion spread beyond the precincts of the port to connecting railways and roads to the interior, causing shippers to suffer order cancellations or discounted shipping charges because of late deliveries.


But the Western India Shippers Association (WISA) told London's International Freighting Weekly that operations were improving, though peak productivity rates were still some way off.


"Anything like this always has a cascading effect on other terminals, but it was critical at DP World," said a WISA spokesman.


The problem started with a labour dispute and a slowdown at DP World's Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT), but even when this was resolved, congestion continued to mount as the terminal refused containers for nearly a week.


The situation brought diverted business to secondary Gujarat ports, which managed to augment trade they gained last year when a ship collision blocked access to the main Mumbai container gateway.


The WISA spokesman said more cargo would be diverted to distant Chennai, which would relieve the pressure on JNPT and give it a chance to clear backlogs.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)