TCI to acquire three vessels at Rs 80 cr
TCI Seaways, the shipping arm of Transport Corporation of India, is planning to invest Rs 80 crore to acquire three more vessels by 2010. The company just received the delivery of a European container vessel at the cost of Rs 38 crore.
The vessel, TCI Surya, will be used as a feeder on the Indian coast and Saarc regions. The acquisition is a part of the company’s plans to consolidate its presence in the shipping sector and emerge as a multi-modal logistics solutions provider. TCI has earmarked Rs 450 crore for its expansion, which includes around Rs 120 crore for vessels.
The capacity of TCI Surya is 312 TEU (4508 DWT) and it is capable of carrying 60 reefer containers at a time. The vessel possesses SWL 40T cranes, therefore, it can be effectively used for lifting project cargoes, which have extremely high freight earnings. The fleet size of TCI Seaways now stands at five vessels.
Commenting on the acquisition, TCI vice-chairman and managing director DP Agarwal said, “We have bought a European vessel that has a high standard of workmanship and quality. The high speed and economic bunker consumption would make the vessel more cost-effective as it will have a faster turnaround during each voyage, thereby doing more voyages in the same period compared to slower vessels.” TCI Seaways has witnessed an exponential growth of 105% in the last five years.
