A vessel carrying 27 containers from Kochi reached the Azhikkal port here on Sunday afternoon, marking the recommencement of stalled cargo shipping operation from the port.
Minister for Ports Kadannappally Ramachandran received the crew of the vessel ‘Great Sea Vembanad’. Among those who were present on the occasion of the resumption of the coastal shipping service from the port were district panchayat president K.V. Sumesh, District Collector Mir Mohammed Ali, and Regional Port Office Captain Ashwin Pratap.
Though the coastal shipping service from the Azhikkal port had been inaugurated in 2014, it was stalled owing to development of shallow path on the channel. The service was now resumed as dredging operation using cutter-suction dredger, CSD Chandragiri, was under way in the port to increase the depth of the channel to six m for the launch of full-fledged coastal shipping services from here.
Kodagu coffee
North Malabar Chamber of Commerce (NMCC) president Vinod Narayan, who was present at the port on the occasion, said coffee growers of Kodagu in Karnataka were interested in utilising the Azhikkal port for shipping coffee via the Kochi port. The lack of Electronic Data Interchange facility of the Customs Department at the port was a hassle for business people.
The container-handling crane at the Azhikkal port unloaded the containers from the vessel. Port officials said the vessel would leave the port in a couple of days.