Performance of Vallarpadam terminal improves

Thiruvananthapuram: The container traffic through International Container Transshipment Terminal, Vallarpadam has improved.

The total traffic through the Terminal crossed last year’s traffic of 366376 TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units) last week. The container traffic is expected to touch about 4.15 lakh TEUs by the end of this financial year. This would amount to a growth of about 13.5 per cent over last year.

The traffic growth at the Terminal has been varying between – one to eight per cent during the last five years and the current trend in growth hints at a turnaround for the project. The number of ships calling on the Terminal has also increased.

The terminal could attract more containers from Coimbatore area thanks to the efforts to ease procedures at the check posts at Walayar and on the route from Walayar to Vallarpadam. The commencement of weekly train by Container Corporation of India from Irugur (Coimbatore) to Vallarpadam and back has also helped attracting more business to the terminal. 

The Terminal had facd several problems, including the delay in completion of dredging, issues with Customs clearance of transshipment containers and labour trouble. It had sought cabotage exemption to improve business, but that was delayed by two years.