Cars from Chennai move to Gujarat via coastal route

Coastal movement of cars from Chennai has re-commenced with a consignment of 2,000 cars to Kandla on the West Coast.

Hyundai, Renault and Ford cars were loaded on to roll-on roll-off pure car carrier Dresden, which left Kamarajar Port, to the North of Chennai on Saturday with automobiles to Kochi and then to Kandla.

For the first time, on a pilot basis, Hyundai is transhipping cars using coastal shipping, according to a senior official of Hyundai Motor India Ltd.

Early this year, around 800 Hyundai cars were sent by coastal shipping directly from Chennai port to Pipavav. However, this service by a Singapore-based company was discontinued after the first voyage, due to insufficient volume from Chennai and lack of cargo in the return direction making the service unviable.

Kamarajar Port Ltd has offered concessional rate on vessel-related charges for pure car carriers/ro-ro vessels in coastal trade to boost coastal shipping and facilitate trade, said MA Bhaskarachar, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Kamarajar Port Ltd, who flagged off the coastal shipping service.

The discounted tariff on wharfage range from ₹500 a unit for cars up to 1,600 CC; ₹1,000 for higher capacity cars; and ₹2,000 for heavy vehicles.

Sical Logistics Ltd, a third party logistics service provider, has aggregated the cars and plans to have two or three coastal voyages a month between Kamarajar port and Kandla, said Bhaskarachar. The company has also made arrangements to carry cargo in return direction, he told newspersons on Friday night at the port.

Sical was the steamer agent, while yard management and stevedoring was done by Ennore Automotive Logistics Ltd.

According to V Anand, Senior General Manager, Sales, Logistics, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, after the first pilot shipment to Pipavav of 800 cars from Chennai port, Hyundai, was trying to improvise on learnings from the project. This time the company is working with Sical, who have tied up with other OEM’s to increase the size of the cargo to make this shipment route more viable.

Sical has tied up with KPL for this pilot project and with other auto OEMS in north and south for a two-way cargo movement. It has entered into agreements with some companies for general cargo.

Of the 1,600 cars transported last night from Kamarajar port, around 1,000 were Hyundai cars, he said.

Anand said coastal shipping is cost effective, environment-friendly and will help reduce road traffic congestion, which is at it is peak during the festival season.

However, the main disadvantage is that is not time-efficient. However, if the customer is willing to wait a little longer — say between 3 and 5 days, this is a good option, he said.

Hyundai is trying to innovate its distribution mechanism, and will be in a position to zero in on the best transport option or even take a long-term view on coastal shipping, he said.

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