The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), which runs the twin dock systems at the Kolkata and Haldia complex, will introduce midstream transloading facilities, where a bigger vessel can offload goods to smaller ones, reported The Hindu.
Arrangements in this regard are being made off the Sagar Islands in Sandheads, at the mouth of the Hooghly river where it merges into the Bay of Bengal.
The transloading facilities are expected to come into operation within this financial year, M.L. Meena, chairman, KoPT, said on the sidelines of a National Trade and Logistics Symposium, organised by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT).
He expected that once the midstream offloading facilities were in place, the KoPT will see a rise of at least 10-15 million tonnes of cargo.
Currently, the KoPT, Kolkata and Haldia dock system combined, handles a container load of 52 million tonnes.
Several companies, both national and international, have shown interest in carrying out transloading facilities on a public private partnership (PPP) basis. Foreign firms, Bocimar (Belgium), a subsidiary of Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) and Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA), a French firm, as well as some Indian companies such as Tata Martrade International Logistics (a Tata Steel subsidiary) and ABG Shipyard have shown interest in the US$100 million project.
The transloading facilities will help the KoPT overcome its problem of declining draft that both Kolkata and Haldia dock complex have been facing for sometime now.
According to Meena, the draft in Kolkata and Haldia dock system has gone down to below 7m making it difficult for fully loaded large vessels to offload goods here.
As a result of this, several ships now move to Paradeep port in Orissa and Vishakapatnam port in the Andhra Pradesh for offloading.
Companies such as NTPC, SAIL and Tata Steel, which require a huge amount of coal, now offload a part of their goods at other docks before coming to Kolkata or Haldia.
“Some other small steel making companies too have been offloading at other ports because of the increased draft and lack of cost effectiveness of the KoPT. We hope to retain these companies once the transloading facilities are in place,” Meena said.
He added that the KoPT was also planning to follow the Chinese model of setting up jetting along a river so that it becomes easier for large vessels to offload their goods before entering the Kolkata or Haldia dock complex.
Arrangements in this regard are being made off the Sagar Islands in Sandheads, at the mouth of the Hooghly river where it merges into the Bay of Bengal.
The transloading facilities are expected to come into operation within this financial year, M.L. Meena, chairman, KoPT, said on the sidelines of a National Trade and Logistics Symposium, organised by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT).
He expected that once the midstream offloading facilities were in place, the KoPT will see a rise of at least 10-15 million tonnes of cargo.
Currently, the KoPT, Kolkata and Haldia dock system combined, handles a container load of 52 million tonnes.
Several companies, both national and international, have shown interest in carrying out transloading facilities on a public private partnership (PPP) basis. Foreign firms, Bocimar (Belgium), a subsidiary of Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) and Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA), a French firm, as well as some Indian companies such as Tata Martrade International Logistics (a Tata Steel subsidiary) and ABG Shipyard have shown interest in the US$100 million project.
The transloading facilities will help the KoPT overcome its problem of declining draft that both Kolkata and Haldia dock complex have been facing for sometime now.
According to Meena, the draft in Kolkata and Haldia dock system has gone down to below 7m making it difficult for fully loaded large vessels to offload goods here.
As a result of this, several ships now move to Paradeep port in Orissa and Vishakapatnam port in the Andhra Pradesh for offloading.
Companies such as NTPC, SAIL and Tata Steel, which require a huge amount of coal, now offload a part of their goods at other docks before coming to Kolkata or Haldia.
“Some other small steel making companies too have been offloading at other ports because of the increased draft and lack of cost effectiveness of the KoPT. We hope to retain these companies once the transloading facilities are in place,” Meena said.
He added that the KoPT was also planning to follow the Chinese model of setting up jetting along a river so that it becomes easier for large vessels to offload their goods before entering the Kolkata or Haldia dock complex.