DUBAI’s dp World is said to have reached a deal to sell its minority stake in the Visakha Container Terminal (VCT), in the eastern Indian port of Visakhapatnam, to the local joint venture partner, according to source, reports Container News.
Mumbai-based JM Baxi seems set to gain full control of VCT by acquiring DP World’s 26 per cent ownership.
Visakhapatnam was one of six terminal concessions under DP World’s Indian network. The other active locations are Nhava /JNPT (two terminals), Mundra, Chennai and Cochin. Equipped with two berths, a draught of 16.5 meters and an annual capacity of 700,000 TEU, VCT began operations in 2003. The recent completion of an expansion programme – covering a 395-mettr berth extension and more quay crane deployments – has raised VCT’s capacity to about 1.3 million TEU annually.
As a result, VCT logged significant productivity highs on Maersk Line’s recent ship calls from its intra-Asia CHX Service. The vessel Celsius Nairobi that docked on April 5 at VCT saw an average gross crane rate of thirty-six moves per hour and berth productivity of 103 moves per hour.
