Shipping
Chittagong port piracy reaches critical levels
PIRACY in and around Chittagong, Bangladesh's main port, is believed to have reached critical levels. According to the Kuala Lumpur-based Piracy Reporting Centre, operated by the International Maritime Bureau, more than 30 attacks occurred between Januar
y and September, and the complaints of more attacks are still being reported. There were 23 attacks last year. The shippers and shipping lines have been told to take extra precautions while making for the port or sailing out of it.
Cochin Shipyard to wipe out losses
THE PUBLIC sector Cochin Shipyard Limited, which posted a record net profit of more than Rs 44 crore in 1999-2000, is all set to wipe out its book loss in 2000-01. The book loss was Rs 42 crore in 1999-2000 against more than Rs 160 crore in 1995-96. This
should be possible because of better capacity utilisation.
As PIB okays new cost estimate... -- ...Ennore Port set to sail
THE COUNTRY'S first major corporatised port at Ennore, near Chennai, is set to sail even as the Public Investment Board (PIB) finalises the revised cost estimate of Rs 1,058.52 crore for the port. The estimate will soon be placed before the Cabinet Commi
ttee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for approval.
Kakinada's shallow bay in deep waters
THE KAKINADA deep-water port, built by the Andhra Pradesh Government with three berths at a cost of Rs 300 crore borrowed from the Asia Development Bank (ADB) and subsequently handed over to Cocanada Port Company in the private sector, is in the news, th
ough for the wrong reasons. It is reported that the berths have developed cracks and the private company has brought the matter to the notice of the State Government, seeking reimbursement of some Rs 10 crore required for having the berths repaired.
Transport
RITES going places on fast track
DIGITAL Terrain Modelling, which works on a platform of MOSS (Mapping Overlay Simulated Systems), and a host of other software packages -- GT-Strudel, Auto-Strudel and Staddpro for Structural Analysis, GT-Silos for Designing Structures for Water fronts,
ADAPT for incremental bridge design -- along with associated hardware costing Rs 200 lakh, has in recent times given RITES (Rail Technical and Economic Services) an edge over its competitors in winning a number of contracts.
On-line tracking: The Net advantage
``OUR CUSTOMER can locate his parcel at any time anywhere in the world using our mobile tracking facility'', said Mr S. Raghunandhan, country head, DHL India. The movements of orders can be tracked with a WAP-enabled mobile phone. The DHL service is avai
lable round-the-clock. To avoid Customs delays, the company has introduced a `clear in the air' concept where the details of the consignment can be downloaded from the Internet much before its arrival.
SembCorp's logistics centres -- Providing seamless service
SEMBCORP Logistics (India) Pvt Ltd, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-based SembCorp Industries, is setting up fullfledged logistics centres countrywide.
