DP World will complete the first phase of the US$652 million Vallarpadam terminal project in Kochi by June and is expected to commission it by year-end, the Economic Times of India reported.
When the International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) is up and running, containerised trade from south India will no longer have to use international transhipment ports like Colombo and Singapore, bringing down cost and time for shipping lines as well as exporters and importers.
"DP World is targeting end June for completion of phase 1, while operations will commence by year end. The first phase of the project has seen an investment of $271.7 million," according to industry sources.
The project was earlier scheduled to be commercially operational by the first week of April, but has been delayed.
The first phase has a quay length of 600 metres and a design capacity of one million TEUs. In the second phase, DP World will develop a further 300 metres of quay length with a capacity of 1.5 million TEUs, while in the final phase, the terminal will have a capacity of three million TEUs.
According to Frost and Sullivan, container capacity handled for international and domestic traffic stood at 9.1 million TEUs in 2008 and is expected to reach 21 million TEUs in 2014.
When the International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) is up and running, containerised trade from south India will no longer have to use international transhipment ports like Colombo and Singapore, bringing down cost and time for shipping lines as well as exporters and importers.
"DP World is targeting end June for completion of phase 1, while operations will commence by year end. The first phase of the project has seen an investment of $271.7 million," according to industry sources.
The project was earlier scheduled to be commercially operational by the first week of April, but has been delayed.
The first phase has a quay length of 600 metres and a design capacity of one million TEUs. In the second phase, DP World will develop a further 300 metres of quay length with a capacity of 1.5 million TEUs, while in the final phase, the terminal will have a capacity of three million TEUs.
According to Frost and Sullivan, container capacity handled for international and domestic traffic stood at 9.1 million TEUs in 2008 and is expected to reach 21 million TEUs in 2014.