PSA International’s Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals (BMCT) has welcomed the beginning of a regular service call from Hyundai Merchant Marine’s (HMM) China India Express service.
The 8,562 TEU M.V. Hyundai Loyalty is one of six vessels involved in the service, which connects BMCT to key Far East markets and trade centres such as Karachi, Singapore, Busan and Shanghai.
During the first call of the China India Express, a total of 8,540 TEUs were handled in 42 hours.
Ong Kim Pong, of PSA, outlines his vision for the next generation of terminals in a recent Port Technology technical paper
Captain Suresh Amirapu, Senior Advisor at PSA India, as well as Managing Director of HMM India HJ Sung, attended an onboard vessel ceremony to mark the occasion.
Amirapu said: “We are honoured to receive this early vote of confidence from HMM in BMCT’s first year of operations.
“With our capacity growing to reach 2.4 million TEUs annually by April 2019 with the arrival of 3 more super post-panamax quay cranes, BMCT aims to provide HMM and its customers with unrivalled productivity, flexibility and growth opportunities at JNPT’s largest container terminal.”
Credit: PSA International
Sung added: “We are glad to take our global relationship with PSA one step forward by commemorating our CIX service at PSA’s BMCT, giving us an edge to meet customer satisfaction with enhanced operational efficiency and move count per hour.
“BMCT with its advanced technology and infrastructure is highly capable to accommodate 13,000 TEU vessels, which are a part of HMM’s recent mega vessel project to continuously bring even bigger sized container vessels to boost the Exim trade in India.”
Sivakumar Kaliannan, BMCT General Manager, also commented: “BMCT is deeply appreciative of HMM’s support. We will be working very closely with HMM and their customers to ensure the CIX service goes from strength to strength.”
According to BMCT, the group is planning to increase the share of rail-borne cargo, with rail promising advantages over road for longer distances.