Shri G.K.Vasan, Union Minister of Shipping, dedicated 12.8 m draught facility for berthing of Panamax vessels to the Nation at a function organized by V.O.Chidambaranar Port in the presence of Thiru S.T.Chellapandian, Minister for Labour and Employment, Government of Tamil Nadu and Thiru S.R.Jeyadurai, Member of Parliament and other dignitaries. He distributed the Awards for 2010-11 to the Port users for Excellence in Traffic Performance.
Dedicating the Berth to the nation Shri Vasan said, “ The Port had the facility of berthing vessels that required a draught of up to 9.2 metres only. During 1999, the Inner Harbour was dredged and deepened at an outlay of Rs. 237 crore to cater to vessels which need 10.7 metres draught.”
“Subsequently, Berth Nos.8 and 9 were constructed and currently the North Cargo Berth-1 is under construction. Despite the construction of new Berths, the Port could not handle bigger vessels due to inadequate draught available in neighbouring Ports in the Country.”
“In order to obviate the difficulties faced due to lack of deep draught facility, the Port Management proposed to dredge and deepen the approach channel and basin to cater to vessels requiring 12.8m draught in the Inner Harbour at an outlay of Rs. 538 crore.”
“With the approval of the Government, the work was initiated by the Port Management and today the Port has a very good berthing facility which would facilitate handling of Panamax Vessels up to 80,000 DWT in six berths of the Port and also increase the capacity of the Port by an additional 7.5 million tonnes.”
Expressing satisfaction at VO Chidambaranar Port joining an elite club of Ports in the Country having deep draught facility Mr Vasan said, this would enable the container vessels and bulk vessels make direct sailing to England, USA and other far off countries.
Congratulating the Award Winners for Traffic Performance for the Year 2010-11 the Minister said that during the first six months of the current year, the Port has registered a growth rate of 13.70% over the previous year.
[mappress] Dredging Today Staff, November 22, 2011