| Date: |
13-09-2014 |
| Subject: |
Chennai set to retrace old Burma business route |
|
CHENNAI: The Union shipping ministry is likely to launch a cargo ferry service soon between Chennai and Yangon (Myanmar).
Official sources said the service will open a sea route to largely land-based trade that is already worth billions of dollars.
For Tamil Nadu, however, the opening of a sea route will re-establish economic ties that used to be strong decades back, before the military takeover.
Nostalgic old-timers in Tamil Nadu may recall the strong Tamil trader contingent in Burma that had to return due to the deteriorating political situation in the nation.
The service will likely start from Colombo on September 28. Shipping Corporation of India will be deploying Kamal, a 1,200 TEU (twenty feet equivalent unit) vessel, whose ports of call will include Colombo, Chennai, Krishnapatnam and Yangon.
Shipping ministry officials said the container ship service has the support of the ministry of external affairs and the ministry of commerce.
"This is a dedicated stand-alone service catering to the trade requirements of the east and west coast of India to Myanmar. Colombo will help to link with SCI's long haul services to the far east, UK and the middle east," a ministry official said.
The shipping ministry is projecting the Chennai-Yangon ferry service as one of its achievements in the first 100 days of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.
Departing Colombo on September 28, the ship will reach Chennai port on October 1 and Krishnapatnam a few days later. The ship will reach Yangon on October 7 and will be back in Colombo on October 12.
Shipping Corporation officials said that with the commencement of this service the transit time for imports and exports from Yangon will be substantially reduced.
Officials in the port trust of Chennai also confirmed that they have received communication from the shipping ministry regarding the launch of new ferry service from Chennai. "There will be an official function in Chennai port to launch the service," a senior official in the port trust said.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
|