New Berthing Policy for dry bulk cargo for major ports in place from August 20, 2016

New Delhi, June 21 (KNN) Ministry of Shipping has formulated a new Berthing Policy for Dry Bulk Cargo for all Major Ports which will come into effect from 20th August, 2016.

The objective of the new Berthing Policy is to provide a standardized framework for calculation of norms, specific to the commodity handled and the infrastructure available on the berth.

The Berthing Policy would also provide design norms with the objective of driving higher productivity and achieving near-design capacity of the available equipment/ infrastructure.

The design norms would reduce berthing time and overall turn-around time of ships; drive higher cargo throughput using the available infrastructure in the Major Ports.

It would improve utilization of port assets and create additional capacity without any significant capital investment; and increase competitiveness of the Major Port by creating value for the trade through reduced logistics cost.

The Berthing Policy aims to reassess the capacity of the berths based on the expected performance of the berth equipment and vessels derived from performance norms.

All the Major Ports will be holding trade meetings between 1st July to 18th July, 2016 to sensitize the norms, incentives, penalties & charges to be implemented. The policy will be implemented by all Major Ports by 20th August, 2016. (PIB Inputs)