DP World upset over offloading of cargo

KOCHI: The Dubai Port World (DP), operator of the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT), Vallarpdam, expressed its concern over the incident of offloading containers from a Europebound mainline vessel by the Customs on Friday.The DP World authorities said that they had been following all norms while exporting cargo. “The containers were brought to ICTT two days back and was waiting for the mainline vessel for European ports. The sudden inspection by the Customs authorities has caused a delay in the sailing of the vessel which was scheduled to leave Kochi at 6 pm on Friday,” they said. They expressed apprehensions that this kind of incidents would tarnish the image of ICTT at global level and and might affect the business prospects of Vallarpadam as an international transshipment terminal.“We will have to silently witness if containers are found routed to other transshipment terminals in the region, especially to Colombo. The mainline service to Europe has just begun,” said a top official of DP World Cochin. “We are trying our best to attract major shipping companies to Vallarpadam for starting mainline services. If we cannot ensure hurdle- free operations, they will not respond positively. The Europe service was brought to Kochi after a lot of efforts made by us,” he said.