SHIPPING CORPORATION OF INDIA (SCI) plans to charter three container ships for periods ranging from three to five years, in an effort to launch new services amid the rebound in trade volumes.
This comes as the company was back in the black during the April-June quarter for the first time in about six quarters, and made a profit in its container business for the first time in about a decade, reports livemint.com
The state-run firm's container shipping division reported an operating profit of INR26.21 crore in the first quarter compared with a loss of INR107.96 crore a year earlier. In the year to March 2010, the container division had reported an operating loss of INR225.09 crore.
The report said that gains in its container shipping division have contributed to a 60 per cent rise in the company's overall net profit to INR191.49 crore during the first quarter compared to the same quarter last year.
According to chairman and managing director S Hajara the main reason for the turnaround was better freight rates in the container shipping business. "We had also initiated several steps including carrying out repairs in India, lowering idle time for containers and other cost-cutting measures," Mr Hajara was quoted as saying.
The report said that SCI is planning to start a new service to Mediterranean ports such as Port Said, Istanbul, Barcelona, Genoa and La Spezia around September-October through a partnership with Mediterranean Shipping Co.
To run the service, SCI will charter two x 3,500-TEU ships for three years, with two options of 12 months each, and one 5,000-TEU ship for two-three years.
This coincides with plans for SCI to expand its owned fleet over the next three to five years, after the carrier short-listed nine shipyards for constructing three ships that can carry up to 6,500 TEU and another three that can load up to 3,500 TEU.
SCI currently runs a fleet of eight container ships, five of which it owns. The ships are used to operate container shipping services to Europe, China, Hong Kong and West Asia.
(Source:www.schednet.com)
