Garment Export consignment affected in floods in VOC Port

Tirupur garment exporters who were hit by the drastic fall in demand in Europe and US markets during the last one year, are saddled with yet another issue of their stocks being damaged due to Flash floods enteringContainer Freight Stations near VOC Port,Tuticorin.

Goods worth Crores of rupees stored in warehouses inside Container Freight Stations (CFS) near Tuticorin port were damaged in the flash floods.  A survey to study the extent of damage by the insurance agencies is on and an estimate of the extent of damage will be known in a few days

The warehouses in Container Freight Stations near VOC Port Tuticorin are located on a higher ground to avoid water damage. These warehouses are also strong and sturdy. Despite this, they were affected as a pond near the facility overflowed

We found several warehouses at CFS were inundated with nearly five feet of water on December 21 according to a spokesman of the Exporters. There was two to three feet of water inside the ware house and it had damaged lakhs of cartons.

Since the port faces acute shortage of labor, garment units in Tiruppur are sending their workers to safeguard the remaining goods. Most of the stock is meant for export. The saving grace is that Marine insurance covers the damage to the goods.

There was a massive power shutdown in the Port premises on December 18.The port authorities were forced to use generators and restored limited power supply temporarily. For the remainder of the week, we worked with minimal staff and managed to load four vessels, instead of the usual quota of handling eight.

Power supply was restored on December 22nd, but we still had a manpower crisis. Some warehouses at CFS were flooded. Assessors from insurance firms are carrying out survey and the extent of damage will be known in 4-5 days.”