India going to launch Vladivostok-Chennai shipping route : Sarbananda Sonowal

NEW DELHI : Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said that India has activated the Vladivostok-Chennai shipping route and is now plans to to connect at least two other east coast ports—Paradip and Vizag—with this maritime corridor.

Petroleum and LNG are the two key products that are currently coming in from Russia, while Indian exports to it includes textiles, engineering goods and machine parts primarily.

“We have started the Vladivostok-Chennai route sometime back. And it is picking up among exporters. The plan going forward is to connect other eastern ports like Paradip and Vizag as part of this corridor, thereby making it more viable for exporters,” the minister said on the sidelines of Sagarmanthan—a maritime conference organised by the ministry and Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

India is also exploring the possibility of using this route for shipping coking coal from both Mongolia and Russia.

Travel time

The Chennai-Vladivostok maritime corridor primarily connects India’s southeastern coast to Russia’s Far East. Although considered as a costly route, the 5,600 nautical miles (10300) km route is expected to reduce travel time between the two countries by 50 per cent. The normal travel time on this route is said to be 10–12 days at normal cruising speed and around 12–14 days at slower speeds.

Possible alternative

In view of the current Red Sea crisis, and increased travel time,which has also pushed up costs, the Vladivostok-Chennai maritime corridor is seen as a possible alternative.

“The Red Sea route now takes 48 days or say, against which Vladivostok route will be 15 days max. So in terms of cost, there will be some benefits accruing to exporters,” another MoPSW official said.

The Red Sea route accounts for 50 per cent of Indian exports and 30 per cent of imports. Domestic companies use the Red Sea route through the Suez Canal to trade with Europe, North American, Africa and also Middle East.

“We will also tap into other alternate routes such as INSTC and India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEEC). Work is currently underway on IMEEC too,” Minister Sonowal said. The India-UAE leg of the corridor is being worked on, which includes getting the software logistics in place for trial runs.

Cementing terms

He said his ministry was working on cementing the terms set by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in government talks with Greece, which holds a significant portion of global maritime activity.

“By tonnage, Greece has the top of the ship-owning capicity,” Sonowal told reporters at Sagarmanthan.

The government is also focusing on modernising ports to facilitate exports, Sonowal said, adding that construction on India’s largest port, in Vadhawan, has begun. It will have a cargo handling capacity of 300 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA), he said.