NYK Auto Logistics India (NALI), a subsidiary of NYK Line, has recently announced that it will start operating a finished vehicle logistics terminal at Gujarat Pipavav Port from June 2015. The port is operated by APM Terminals and located near Gujurat in the northwest of India.
APM Terminals Pipavav, the operator at the port, is a container management company, but the move to develop a vehicle terminal is motivated by the strong demand expected in vehicle exports from the west coast of India over the next few years.
To meet that demand, NYK said that it would be building and operating a stockyard at the terminal, which is able to handle up to 250,000 vehicles annually. The facility will provide value-added services, such as pre-delivery inspection (PDI), as well as the use of RFID for tracking and tracing of vehicles.
Although there are ro-ro facilities and vehicle storage at Mundhra port in Gujurat, no ports in India have dedicated terminals offering the full range of services for exports, and they are all plagued with space constraints.
NALI started handling finished vehicles in India in 2010 when NYK transferred operations from NYK Line (India), which handles liner trade services in the country. The division now manages inland-transport services, including PDI and vehicle distribution, as well as handling administrative work for CONYK Cartrac, a rail-based vehicle transport company.
The latest move is deemed one of the “creative solutions" NYK is initiating as part of the company’s medium-term management plan – More Than Shipping 2018 – designed to provide higher quality finished vehicle services in the expanding Indian vehicle market, according to the company.
