According to port sources, Asiatic Neptune operated by Bengal Tiger Line (BTL) is expected to add approximately 40,000 TEUs (20ft equivalent units) per year. The ship has a capacity of 1155 TEUs and maximum draft of 7.8m
Chief mechanical engineer, P Ravindran flagged off the service from the eighth berth in the presence of traffic manager, U Rajendran and senior officials of DBGT. “We expect the operator of the eighth berth to bring in more services and also take steps to start mainline services in the future,” Ravindran said. He also urged the DBGT to ensure that the conversion of berth as a container terminal should be in place by June 2017 so that the port can cater to the increase in demand of containers.
In 2016-17, up to December 2016, DBGT has handled 74,204 TEUs. The eighth berth with a capacity of six lakh TEUs commenced its temporary operation on May 11, 2014 by deploying reach stackers. Chairman of VOC port trust, S Anantha Chandra Bose said efforts are being taken to attract more container cargo and to promote ease of doing business.
According to DBGT sources though there are other feeder services this one is significant because the world’s largest container shipping company, Maersk is entering the feeder service between Tuticorin and Colombo. Representatives from Maersk, Bengal Tiger Line and shipping associations participated in the flagging off ceremony.
CEO of DBGT, Eric Lavenu reassured the commitment of the company to bring in the best technology in the near future and make the terminal at Tuticorin, a world class one.
