Cochin Port officers demand smoother car import

Kochi: Cochin Port Officers’ Association (CPOA) has urged the state government and the labour department to resolve the impasse over the docking of car carrying cargo vessels in the Cochin Port. In a statement on Tuesday the CPOA has pointed out that car import and export through Ro-Ro ships is a major business opportunity lying ahead before the port. “It is our responsibility to create a trade friendly atmosphere in the port to get more cargo”, CPOA president KV Bhagvath Sing said.

The Ro-Ro ship carrying car cargo has skipped Cochin Port during the last trip on account of the trade unions insisting on employing them for unloading the vehicles. A spokesperson for Brothers Shipping, the agency for the car cargo vessel, told DC on Tuesday that apprehensions are still on the next port call scheduled on October 30.

The unions have finally agreed that drivers for the vehicles can be deployed by the agency, he said, and added that but they are still insisting on other works linked with the unloading. According to the shipping agents since the work needed a specialised skill it cannot afford to entrust the work on a random basis. “We will be answerable to even slight damage to the cargo”, he said.