SINGAPORE: Singapore’s PSA International Pte Ltd opened a swanky new container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) near here on Friday morning. Capt Cristian Ungureanu, a Romanian national, steered container ship Centaurus to berth.
Hundreds of cargo containers were on board the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel owned by Greek firm Unitized Ocean Transport Ltd and chartered by French line CMA CGM S A to operate on its Swahili Express (SWAX).
The service (India — Middle East — Africa trade lane) is run by a consortium of CMA CGM and Emirates Shipping Line, connecting JNPT with Jebal Ali, Khor al Fakkan, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Djibouti.
The first container was unloaded by one of the six 65-tonne super post panamax quay cranes made by South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co Ltd and erected at the 1-km-long quay or berth around 10.45 am following a puja.
“There was no problem, the entire exercise went off smoothly,” Ungureanu, whose wife was also on the ship, later told BusinessLine.
In 2014, PSA had emerged the highest bidder for the 30-year contract by quoting the highest revenue share price bid of 35.79 per cent.
The project involves the construction of two berths in two phases of 1 km each. The first phase is designed to handle 2.4 million TEUs at a cost of ₹4,719 crore, and the second phase another 2.4 million TEUs involving an investment of ₹3,196 crore by 2022.
Once phase two is operational as well, the new terminal will help JNPT — India’s biggest container port — double its capacity to about 10 million TEUs. It currently has four facilities capable of handling a combined 4.8 million TEUs.
Low-key event
True to its characteristic low-key style of functioning, none of the top executives from the head office of PSA International, a unit of Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore, was present at the opening of India’s biggest single container terminal (no container terminal in India has a quay length of 1km, and this will be expanded to 2 km by 2022) built in record time with an FDI infusion that hit a record high, too.
The event was attended by various executives including JNPT Chairman in-charge Neeraj Bansal, PSA India MD Mike Formoso, Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals CEO Suresh Amirapu and CMA CGM India MD Audrey Dolhen.
Port industry executives said today’s function was deliberately given a low profile, for Prime Minister Narendra Modi will officially open the terminal later this month.
Villagers protest
The soft launch of the new terminal coincided with a demonstration held by local villagers seeking employment for project affected persons (PAPs).
“The new terminal has accorded priority to employment of PAPs,” said Bansal, seeking to quell misgivings on the issue. “In the first phase, 165 persons were hired by the terminal operating company till date including 92 from 18 local villages, of which 52 are PAPs.”
About 340 more persons have been hired from nearby villages by contractors providing support services to the terminal such as lashing, house-keeping, yard cleaning, security, canteen, transport, checkers and ambulance.
BMCT expects strong business growth in the coming years and recruitment will be in line with growing volumes, PSA said. “We expect the number of direct and indirect employees to increase significantly and will continue to recruit in a fair and transparent manner with first preference given to candidates who meets BMCT’s criteria and is a PAP as verified and notified by the district collector and JNPT,” PSA added.
