Katchal Traders Decry Non-Availability of Direct Ship for Transportation of Common Cargo

Tarun Karthick

Campbell Bay, 20 January 2023

The merchants of Katchal Island are dealing with lots of issues because of the non-availability of direct ships for the transportation of normal cargo to the Island from Port Blair for greater than a month.

M.V Bharat Seema was the final ship to name on Katchal Port on eleventh December 2022, after which no different passenger ship was scheduled for the Island. 

Earlier, M.V Chulgam a cargo vessel owned by the Directorate of Shipping Services was used to offer transportation of normal cargo to the distant Islands of Nicobar District, however the crusing of M.V Chuglam has additionally not been scheduled for a very long time. 

Due to the Non-Availability of direct ships for the transportation of normal cargo, the merchants of Katchal now import normal cargo via Kamorta. The cargo is first transported to Kamorta after which re-transported from Kamorta to Katchal. 

This strategy of re-transporting the cargo from Kamorta to Katchal will increase the price of each bundle on a median by Rs. 250/-. The re-transportation of Cargo from Kamorta to Katchal will increase the price of the commodity at Katchal Island.

The merchants additionally undergo lots of losses resulting from misplaced packages and broken items in the course of the re-transportation of cargo from Kamorta to Katchal.

Traders have demanded {that a} vessel ought to instantly be scheduled for transportation of normal cargo instantly from Port Blair to Katchal. The merchants have additionally demanded that the Directorate of Shipping Services ought to schedule cargo vessels/passenger-cum-cargo vessels at common intervals for Katchal Island in order that cargo could be transported with none hassles.