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Emerging Business Opportunities in Costal & Inland Shipping
The Sate as well as the Central Government has taken keen interest in developing and encouraging inland & costal shipping. Besides the traditional dry cargo transportation, the following developments also offer exciting opportunities for growth:
Bunkering facilities
Kochi has a unique business opportunity for refueling of ships traveling on the international maritime highway. This highway is only 11 nautical miles from Kochi and these ships would be willing to refuel, or bunker. Sensing this opportunity the Government of Kerala has proposed to waive tax on bunkering of foreign-going vessels in the 2006 Finance Bill. As a company which is already specialized in transportation of fuel, LOTS Shipping is poised to take full advantage of this development.
Vallarpadam Container Terminal Project (VCTP)
VCTP, in the port of Kochi, will be India`s first ever International Container Trans-shipment Terminal (ICTT). According to a CNBC report, this project will enable India to move into the top 20 maritime nations. Dubai Ports International (DPI) has emerged as the successful bidder for developing and operating the project on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis for 30 years and the project is expected to be completed by 2009. It is expected to be one of the largest single-operator trans-shipment terminals in India.
With the commissioning of the VCPT, there will be a huge demand for transporting containers to the hinterland through the inland waterways and to other smaller ports through costal and near costal shipping. Again LOTS Shipping is perfectly placed to handle this.
Sethusamudram Project
The "Sethusamudram Ship Canal" project proposes linking the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar on the east coast of India by creating a shipping canal through Rameswaram Island, which would provide a continuous navigable sea route around the Indian Peninsula. After the canal is constructed, the distance between Kanyakumari and Chennai would be reduced to 402 nautical miles from the present 755. Further, the canal would considerably reduce the distance between the east and the west coasts, and traveling time by 36 hours. It will also avoid circum-navigation of ships around Sri Lanka, thereby resulting in savings in fuel costs and standing charges associated with extra period of voyages. Tuticorin Port Trust is co-coordinating this project and an SPV has been formed for execution of this project. LOTS Shipping is already operating on this route with MV Thekkady plying in Tuticorin ? Male route.
Advantages of Coastal & Inland Water Shipping
Water transport has some inherent advantages over the other modes such as road and rail. It is energy efficient, environment friendly and has potential to reduce congestion on rail and road networks and can cater to movement of large volumes of bulk traffic at relatively cheaper cost. The advantages of coastal shipping vis - a - vis other modes of transport are as below.
Fuel Consumption
Fuel consumption by coastal shipping at 4.83 gm/tkm is just 15 percent of consumption by road and 54 percent of that by rail.
Emissions
Emissions of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, particulates and nitrogen oxides are very much lower in the case of coastal shipping than in road or rail.
Cost of Carriage
The cost of carriage of goods by coastal shipping works out to be 21 percent of the cost by road and 42 percent of cost by rail.
External Costs
External costs of water transport are also significantly lower compared to rail or road. These costs arise out of accidents, noise pollution, air pollution, climate changes, infrastructure burden and congestion. In the EU, the marginal costs of water transport have been estimated at 20.7 percent and 40.5 percent of road and rail respectively. | 
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