New Delhi, Jun 20 (IANS): The Shipping Ministry on Monday said that it has framed a new berthing policy for dry bulk cargo for all major ports and it will come into effect from August 20.

The objective of the new policy is to reduce berthing time and overall turnaround time of ships, drive higher cargo throughput using the available infrastructure in major ports and improve utilization of port assets and create additional capacity without any significant capital investment among others.

"Increase competitiveness of the major port by creating value for the trade through reduced logistics cost, reassess the capacity of the berths based on the expected performance and vessels derived from performance norms, and standardize anchorage charges across major ports to reduce turnaround time," said the ministry in a statement.

All the major ports will be holding trade meetings between July 1 to 18 to sensitize all concerned about the norms, incentives, penalties and charges to be implemented, it said.

Dry bulk cargo currently makes up 26 per cent of the cargo handled at the 12 major ports.