Container Ships and Indian Ports

A fwd from DM on the Emma Maersk set me wondering – If ships carry 90% of India’s export-import volume, how much do the containers carry? How do our ports compare internationally?

According to IPA data (2005-6), Indian ports carried 4.7 million TEUs last year, of which nearly 60% went through JNPT-Mumbai (2.6 m TEU). This port has a draft of 12.5m and so the largest ships that can get here hold up to 5,000 TEUs (panamax).

To put things in perspective, here are the numbers for China – just the port of Hong Kong handles more than 22m TEUs annually. Four of the top ten container ports are Chinese.

Two critical factors affect the economies of ship operations – operation costs and time. On both counts Indian ports lag far behind the international benchmarks. In Hong Kong it takes eight hours to unload and load a ship; Indian ports take an average of 3.4 days (78 hours!).

Increasingly, global shipping lines are going for ships that can carry more than 7500 TEUs. A BRS-Alphaliner report says that 150 such ships have already been ordered, in addition to the 40 already in operation. By 2015 vessels with 12,000 TEUs (Suezmax) and 18,000 TEUs (Malaccamax) will become common. And India, with its strategic location and 7600km coastline will get only “feeder” ships and higher costs per container :(

And here are the vital stats of the lady from Denmark who is rewriting the rules:

• Length - 1,302 ft (397m)
• Width - 207 ft (56m)
• Net cargo - 123,200 tons
• Engine - 14 in-line cylinders diesel engine (110,000 BHP)
• Cruise Speed - 31 mi/h (50kmph) – special silicon paint reduces drag and saves 317,000 gallons (1.4 million liters) of diesel per year!
• Cargo capacity - 15,000 TEU (stated capacity is only 11,000 TEUs)
• Crew - 13 people
• First Trip - Sept. 08, 2006
• Construction cost - US $145,000,000+

Ports capable of hosting Emma - Suez Canal (Egypt), Gothenburg, Aarhus, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Algeciras, Singapore, Kobe, Nagoya, Yokohama, Yantian, Hong Kong, Tanjung Pelepas and Felixstowe.

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Note:

50 Largest Container Ports, 2004: Four ports handled more than 10m TEUs annually – all in the Far East

Top 20 Container ports, 2002