Cochin Port forays into seaplane bunkering business

The SpiceJet seaplane from Goa left for Maldives after bunkering 975 litres of Aviation Turbine Fuel

KOCHI : From being the leader in bunkering ocean going crafts, Cochin Port Trust has now forayed into seaplane bunkering business by enabling refuelling of a seaplane enroute Maldives.

According to officials, the port has facilitated first ever seaplane bunkering when a SpiceJet seaplane berthed at the port for refuelling enroute Maldives. This paves the way for the port to position itself as a seaplane bunkering port.

The seaplane which arrived from Goa, left for Maldives after bunkering 975 litres of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), besides stocking essential items on board. Indian Oil Aviation supplied the bunker (ATF) for the seaplane.

Likewise, the port recently loaded first coastal tank containers from BPCL-Kochi Refinery to Hazira in Gujarat. The first coastal consignment of two tank containers carrying acrylic acid from BPCL-Kochi Refinery for Hazira port, Gujarat were loaded on board MV SSL Vishakhapatanam from ICTT Vallarpadam.

The coastal shipping of hazardous cargo like acrylic acid, marks the modal shift of transportation of tank containers from road to sea mode. This is a major step towards promotion of coastal shipping being encouraged by Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways under the Sagarmala scheme.

The consignees are Visen Industries – Silvasa and Rossari Biotech – Bharuch, Gujarat. Avana Logistek Ltd, a Transworld Group company, was the logistics partner.

Cochin Port was, incidentally, the first major port in India to start LNG bunkering in February 2015. With this, the port firmly establishes itself as an integrated logistics service provider with capabilities to serve road, sea and air mode of transportation, the officials added.

Source : The Hindu Business Line