Essar Projects, which is the principal EPC contractor for India’s first Ro-Ro ferry project that was inaugurated here today by Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, congratulated the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) on reaching the milestone, the company said in its press release.
A GMB project of national significance, the RoRo ferry will bring down the travel time between Gujarat’s Gogha and Dahej ports—which are 340 km apart—from 7 hours to just 2.5 hours (inclusive of the time taken to drive from Bharuch to Dahej port and from Gogha port to Bhavnagar). The Ro-Ro ferry service will be able to carry about 500 passengers and 100-150 vehicles on each trip across the Gulf of Khambhat (also called Gulf of Cambay) over a 30-km (17 nautical miles) navigational channel created on the sea. Once services commence, the ferry is expected to do four round trips every day.
GMB awarded the contract for constructing the Ro-Ro terminals and supporting onshore infrastructure at Dahej and Ghogha to Essar Projects following a competitive bidding process. The Essar Projects team has not only designed and constructed the Ro-Ro terminals at both ports, but also built the approach bunds, trestles, pontoons and link spans. The pontoon, which is a floating structure, will facilitate traffic and passenger movement to and from the ferry vessel. At 96 metre, the link span bridge, which connects the pontoon and jetty, is the world's longest.
Essar Projects’ technical expertise was demonstrated in the reclamation work that needed to be undertaken for constructing the approach bunds. The most unique aspect of the terminal project lies in the fact that it has been executed in waters that are characterised by 10-metre-high tidal variations, which is the highest anywhere in India and the second highest in the world. Essar Projects has invested more than 8 million man hours to the project and executed it with zero LTI (Loss Time Injury).
About Essar Projects India Ltd.
Essar Projects India Limited (EPIL) is a major EPC company of the Essar Group, offering unique collaborative end-to-end project delivery model that is backward integrated into the supply chain and forward integrated into the operator’s mindset through its sister company links.