Lots Bridge, the double-end vessel, which will transport containers between Vallarpadam's Willingdon Island and Bolghatty, reached Cochin Port recently, Exim News Service reports.

The ship, chartered by the Kochi-based Lots Shipping Company, will do its job through roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) operations. It is contracted to carry containers for a period of 10 years.

Company officials claimed that the vessel, which is the first-of-its-kind to be operated in India, has capacity to move fifteen 20-TEU trucks in a trip and 500 TEUs a day.

The vessel is on long-term charter from a Singapore company.

Keeping in mind the traffic congestion on city roads, Cochin Port had studied various options for the movement of containers to the ICTT at Vallarpadam.

Movement by water was one of the options, for which it jointly created the infrastructure with the Inland Waterways Authority of India. Both ro-ro and lift-on lift-off (lo-lo) modes are being envisaged.