Cashew arrivals pick up

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: Arrival of raw cashew at the newly commissioned International Container Transshipment Terminal has picked up and on Thursday, Maersk Izmir, a mainline vessel with cashew, made her maiden call at the terminal here. The vessel is a service between West Africa and the Far East, touching Kochi and discharging containers for Kochi as well as transshipment containers for other South Indian Ports. A spokesman for DP World, the ICTT operator, said m.v. Maersk Izmir was a larger service than what served Kochi previously and indicated the confidence of the shipping line in the new infrastructure available here.

The vessel was welcomed by DP World officials, including Chief Executive Officer K.K. Krishnadas, on its maiden arrival and its Capt. G.C.M. Vreins was presented a memento to mark the occasion. Capt. Vreins lauded the infrastructure and operational efficiency at the ICTT. Maersk Izmir had 368 containers and the moves were completed in 3.58 hours.

A statement from DP World said the visiting vessel belonged to the FW2 service of 09 3500 TEU vessels with an overall length of more than 230 metres. This is the first time that the vessel is calling at Kochi, as Maersk had MW1 service from West Africa calling at the Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal last year..

(Source: http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/15/stories/2011051557641700.htm)