Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Deendayal Port in Kandla is set to receive 22 vessels over the next three days, including some foreign-flagged Gulf-bound ships, which are unable to head to the conflict-hit region. Ships that are destined for West Asian countries can use this as a transhipment port to drop the cargo. TOI has learnt that the port authority has made adequate preparations to meet this demand of ships berthing at the port for reasons including “change of voyage”, which refers to an intentional and voluntary alteration of a vessel’s originally agreed-upon route or final destination after the journey has commenced. In a social media post on Friday, the port authority said, “Going to handle 22 vessels in the next 72 hours. Deendayal port authority, Kandla gears up to handle the surge in incoming vessels… Systems working efficiently to accommodate reconfigured voyages.” People involved in the preparation said location advantage of the port and availability of a huge land parcel can be used for keeping the consignments and they are creating enough space. Last week the shipping secretary had directed all govt owned ports to gear up and follow SOP for addressing all issues faced by shipping lines, agents and exporters. Special secretary in shipping ministry, Rajesh Sinha, said port operations across India remain stable and SOPs have been issued for all major and non-major ports.
