Ship chandlers & ship supply at Kochi INCOK

Cochin Port Authority runs the port from Willingdon Island, an artificial island in the backwaters that keep its channels calm even in the monsoon; the port notes Kochi lies outside the cyclone zone. It is 11 nautical miles from the Gulf–Singapore/Far East route and 74 from the Suez–Singapore route, and offers 24-hour pilotage and cargo operations.^[1]

—Traffic: 37.745 million tonnes in 2024–25 and 38.063 million tonnes in 2025–26 in the port’s own statistics; containers 834,665 TEU and 767,944 TEU. Liquid bulk is about two-thirds of the total — crude and POL for the BPCL Kochi refinery.^[5,6]

—Containers: the International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam, run by DP World, offers 600 m of quay at 14.5 m permissible draft; DP World reported its capacity raised to about 1.4 million TEU in 2025.^[3,7]

—Liquids: the Cochin Oil Terminal (12.5 m, 250 m LOA) and north and south tanker berths (9.14 m) handle crude and products; the single-point mooring 10 nm off Puthuvypeen takes VLCCs of up to 370 m LOA and 22.5 m draft for BPCL. Petronet LNG’s 5 MMTPA Puthuvypeen terminal, operating since August 2013, has a jetty for LNG carriers up to 320 m LOA and 12.5 m draught.^[3,4,2,8]

—General cargo and cruise: the Ernakulam Wharf (Q5–Q10, 10–11 m) and Mattancherry Wharf (mostly 9.14 m) carry cement, fertiliser and general cargo; two cruise terminals, Samudrika at Boat Train Pier and Sagarika at Ernakulam Wharf, clear passengers under one roof.^[3,9]

All ships approaching Cochin contact Cochin Port Control on VHF 15/16 and report their ETA; Port Control runs a radar/AIS-based VTMS covering the approach to the fairway buoy. Pilots board near buoys 3 and 4 — deep-draught ships about 0.5 nm west of buoys 1 and 2 — with the ladder rigged on the lee side 1.5 m above the water. Normally two tugs attend each movement and are included in the pilotage charge.^[2]

—Channels: the port describes a 16.5 km outer approach channel, 260 m wide and 15.95 m deep, marked by buoys 1 to 16, leading to the Ernakulam channel (permissible draft 12.5 m up to the oil terminal and Q8/Q9) and the Mattancherry channel (9.14 m). Berth-by-berth permissible drafts are in the port’s berth table — use those, not channel depths, for planning.^[2,3]

—Anchorage: the open anchorage lies south of the channel on clay and sand with good holding. The “outer anchorage” in the port’s tariff is the area west of Vypin and Fort Kochi, outside the navigational channel but inside port limits. Ships waiting to berth anchor free for the first 48 hours.^[2,10]

—SPM: tankers anchor 2.5 miles south of the buoy; mooring is in daylight only — arrive and board the pilot before 1600 hrs or wait for first light (pilot boarding 0600). Unmooring is round the clock. BPCL’s questionnaire or Q88 goes to the Harbour Master for acceptance.^[4]

—Tides and currents: semidiurnal tides with a mean higher high water of about 1.2 m above chart datum. The current at Cochin Gut runs about 3 knots, up to 5.5 knots in the south-west monsoon (June–September), and after heavy inland rain the ebb can run for days.^[1]

The port publishes its bunker market: suppliers BPCL, IOCL, HPCL, Bharat Chemical and Axiom Global Oil & Gas Trading, and barge operators KSINC, Unique Bunkers, Cochin Bunkers and Shiny Shipping, with supply at berths by barge, truck or pipeline and at the outer anchorage. It handled 3.54 lakh tonnes (354,000 t) of bunkers in 2024–25.^[2,11,6]

—Bunkering is allowed at night. During the monsoon only seagoing barges licensed under the Merchant Shipping Act may supply at the outer anchorage, case by case; inland barges work there in the fair-weather season only. Bunkering at ICTT also needs the terminal operator’s permission.^[12]

—Outer-anchorage calls for crew change, bunkers, ship stores or repairs pay an hourly charge from letting go to anchor aweigh, plus anchorage and tug hire, under the 2026 Scale of Rates.^[10]

—Fresh water: the port supplies by barge in the inner harbour, by barge at the outer harbour and through shore lines, each with a minimum charge per supply; licensed private agencies also deliver by tanker lorry at the wharves and ICTT.^[10,13]

—Waste: requests go through DG Shipping’s Swachh Sagar portal. Oily waste goes to approved vendors by truck or barge, sewage by tanker to the Vathuruthy plant, garbage to port-approved contractors by boat or truck; there is no approved NLS recycler in Kerala, so chemical tankers must take the pre-wash elsewhere. Every ship declares its waste on Swachh Sagar whether or not it lands any, preferably 24 hours or more before arrival.^[2,14]

—An agent and the national filings: Cochin Port requires all advance payments for vessel and cargo charges through the Sagar Setu (NLP-Marine) maritime single window — non-compliance can delay or deny port services.^[15]

—ETA to Cochin Port Control on VHF 15/16, the pilot at buoys 3/4, and a berth, anchorage or SPM slot; for the SPM, BPCL’s acceptance first.^[2,4]

—Yachts send a pre-arrival notification of security at least 96 hours ahead and anchor near Malabar Buoy off Willingdon Island before shifting to the Bolgatty marina.^[16]

—Repairs: Cochin Shipyard, next to the inner harbour, has offered ship repair since 1982 and completed more than 2,500 repair projects.^[17]

—Provisions, stores, spares and fresh water — alongside or at the outer anchorage: post a requirement and chandlers serving Kochi answer with sealed bids — suppliers never see the vessel’s name until award. If you supply ships at Cochin, be the first supplier in.

—Up the coast, New Mangalore has its own guide; across the Laccadive Sea, so does Colombo.