Declare force majeure, stevedores urge Centre

Visakhapatnam WITH the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic devastating cargo handling and supply chain management operations across India, the stevedores of major ports have sent SOS to the Ministry of Shipping to declare a force majeure and dole out some sops to bail them out.

In a representation to Mansukh L Mandaviya, Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, The Federation of Associations of Stevedores (FAS) said immediate intervention from the Centre is required to ensure normal operations in the major ports during this crisis.

A notification of force majeure will benefit the port users from paying penalties/demurrages for failing to comply with contractual obligations due to an extraordinary situation beyond one's control.

Federation president Ishwar Achanta said the entire country was hit by the severity of the pandemic and 50,000-odd stevedores across the country were facing problems with regard to high skilled workers and exodus of labour.

The federation sent separate messages to the chairmen of major ports to rollback tariff increases made during past 12 months due to the extraordinary situation arising from the second wave.

"Under these circumstances we are unable to fulfill contractual obligations for our export-import (Exim) clients," KV Krishna Kumar, president of Visakhapatnam Stevedores' Association told Bizz Buzz on Sunday.

He said immediate orders should be issued to Visakhapatnam and other major ports to put on hold levying and collection of penalties pending formal directives.

The port users have demanded reversal of berthing policy for dry bulk cargo, certain provisions of stevedores and shore handling policy and amendments to land leasing policy which makes leasing of lands prohibitive.

Who is a stevedore?

Stevedores are the people who work on the wharfs and on the ships, loading and unloading the cargo. They operate derricks and cranes on the ship as well as the huge container cranes on shore. On container ships, stevedores take containers from the storage area to the crane and from the crane to the storage area.