... as Kandla opens to breakbulk ships
Alan Peat
DESPITE THE serious ravages of an earthquake - measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale - in India's Gujurati province, there are no reports from SA's maritime industry of any disruption to lines' SA-India sea services.
The Gujurati port of Kandla - rated as India's busiest - did, however, declare the earthquake damage as a force majeure (an act of God). It, and the port of Ahmedabad, also redirected container vessels to Mumbai until further notice.
This raised the further fear that Mumbai might also begin to show signs of congestion as these extra vessels piled up on the port's doorstep. However, said P&O Nedlloyd's Andre Naude, there is more than one port at Mumbai.
Hopefully, this added capacity will be able to handle the extra ships and congestion will not result from the other ports' problems.
Speaking for another of the main carriers on
the route, MSC's Neville Naidoo was also optimistic.
The situation is that Kandla is closed to container vessels, he told FTW. But - while the port is still undergoing survey - it opened on February 5 to breakbulk ships.
The port of Mumbai is showing no signs of ill-effects and it seems to be no major problem.
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