Asia/Pacific News
Bunkering Simplified at Cochin Port
Bunkering at Cochin Port in Kochi, India will be simpler under a new decision by the Cochin customs authority, which empowers assistant and deputy commissioners to grant clearance for bunkering and allows buyers to apply and get clearance manually outside regular office hours, the Times of India reports.
The new procedures, which also apply to providing store supplies and water for vessels, will allow bunkering around the clock and on holidays.
Bunkering barges will also be able to fuel multiple vessels during a trip, which was not previously permitted, and vessels taking on bunkers will be able to be anywhere within Indian Customs Waters instead of berthed at port.
"These changes will attract even those ships which pass through the neighbouring international route to undertake bunkering here though they may not otherwise touch the port," said customs commissioner KN Raghavan.
"There are about 70 ships which pass through the international route adjacent to Kochi every day,"
The Cochin Port Trust has already simplified bunkering operations with single-window clearance for documentation, and the government of the state of Kerala, where Kochi is located, has introduced tax incentives to promote bunkering at the port.
Bunker sales at the port were report to have risen to 300,000 tonnes over the past year, up from 60,000 tonnes the previous year.
Kochi is also being considered as a pilot site for liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering and could become a hub for LNG sales to ships traveling along India's west coast.
