Vizag Port News

Nitin Gadkari, Indian Minister of Shipping will inaugurate five port projects worth INR  1062 Crores (USD 156 mln ) in Vishakhapatnam today (Friday). The projects to be inaugurated include upgradation of existing iron ore handling facility at Outer Harbour of Vizag Port. This would involve modernising and upgrading the 40 year old iron ore handling facility so that it can handle larger vessels of 2 lakh DWT with loading rate of 8000 MT/hour. Capacity enhancement would be to 16.20 MTPA from 12.50 MTPA. The work was awarded to M/s.ESSAR Vizag Terminals Ltd on DBFOT basis with revenue share of 31% on 14.5.2015 is was completed on 31.5.2018. The other projects to be inaugurated include Development Berths at the inner harbour of the port and Post Panamax Quay Cranes.

Post the taking over of Vishakhapatnam Port Trust’s (VPT's) Iron Ore Handling Complex (OHC) on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis for a period of 30 years in May’ 15, Essar Vizag Terminals Limited (EVTL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Essar Ports Limited (EPL) has boosted the EPL’s strategy of diversifying its customer profile. Through addition of this facility EPL has seen its third party cargo share jump to more than 8% in FY 16 alone with the likes of JSW, NMDC/ MMTC etc. Once upgraded the mechanized system will be able to reach a capacity of 8000TPH, which will be one of the highest cargo-handling rate in Indian Major Ports. During QI FY 17…

Vishakhapatnam Port is poised for major expansion, with the Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurating several projects during his visit to the port, says government press release. The Minister inaugurated a Container Freight Station of 1 lakh TEU capacity developed by M/s.VCTPL at a cost of Rs.104 crores for which an extent of Ac 34 acres is allotted by the Port. He also inaugurated the commissioning of 6.25MW out of 10MW solar power plant. The power generated from this plant is meeting the captive consumption of the port and the excess power is proposed to be sold by third party agreements. Gadkari also laid the foundation stone for the project “Reconstruction of old EQ-2…

Sri Lanka based shipping company- Herbilan Shipping Pvt Ltd is all set to launch Colombo-Vizag-Yangon (Myanmar)-Colombo service from September 1, reports the Hindu. “One of the main reasons for Herbilan Shipping to launch the service is to give direct connectivity with Yangon and Colombo as the first dedicated feeder in this route. At present there is no dedicated feeder in operation on this route,” said Herbi Silva. Herbilan Shipping is also planning to commence the second loop effective from October end on Colombo-Chennai-Yangon-Colombo and the thi-rd loop end of November, on Colombo-Yangon-Colombo-Navashiva-Colombo sector. Herbilan group chairman, Herbi Silva, director Jin Jinx-ian and CEO Ivan De Almeida are in Vizag to meet Vizag port officials, shipping agents and customers.

Odisha Cooperation and Excise Minister Damodar Rout today alleged that there has been a big conspiracy to curtail the business of Paradip port in Odisha. He said the Central government has knowingly hatched a conspiracy to make Odisha’s Paradip port defunct. Dr. Rout said the Port which bagged the Peacock award for handling the highest cargo traffic last year is now facing an alarming situation of reduced traffic handling. Rout said: "After the Adani group had taken over the control of Dhamara port from L&T, a section of BJP leaders at the Centre were trying hard to take away all the business from Paradip port to the advantage of Dhamra port.

Essar Ports Limited today announced its unaudited results for the full year and quarter ended March 2015. ·         Essar Ports takes over the Vizag Iron Ore outer harbor terminal with 2 berths on 14th May 2015. Existing operational terminal with no gestation period. Refurbishment of terminal to happen alongside operations. 1.    Revenue for FY’15 is Rs. 1,741 cr, an increase of 6% against Rs 1,637 cr in FY’14. 2.    EBITDA for FY’15 is Rs. 1,416 cr, an increase of 7% against Rs 1,327 cr in FY’14. 3.    PAT for FY’15 is Rs. 391 cr, an increase of 2% against Rs 384 cr in FY’14. 4.    Earnings Per Share for FY’15 were Rs. 1.    Revenue for the quarter is Rs. 440 cr, an increase of 1% against Rs 434 cr in Q3FY’15 and 6% increase against Rs 416 cr in Q4FY’14. 2.    EBITDA for Q4 FY’15 is Rs.

Essar Ports Ltd. (EPL) today announced the taking over of Vishakhapatnam Port Trust’s (VPT) Iron Ore Handling Complex on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis, for a period of 30 years. Essar Vizag Terminals Ltd. (EVTL), a wholly owned subsidiary of EPL, will comprise three berths (two outer harbour berths and one inner harbour berth) with a combined capacity of 23 Million Tonnes per Annum (MTPA) which will be developed in two phases. “Enhancing the cargo handling capacity and mechanization of port facilities for efficient management is crucial for long term sustenance. We are very sure that Essar will develop the OHC facility with latest state-of art handling facilities and achieve higher loading rate thereby reducing the overall turn around by at least 50%”- M.T.

India will develop Visakhapatnam, the largest city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, into a regional container transshipment hub. According to Visakhapatnam Port Trust Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu as part of transshipment hub plan, feeder services to Haldia, Kolkata, Chittagong in Bangladesh and ports in Myanmar would be developed. Because of its strategic location, the city was better placed than other ports to attract cargo even from distant places, he said. Efforts were on to attract mainland vessels to Visakhapatnam Port. Visakhapatnam will be a second transshipment port in the country, even as operations at the first, at Vallarpadam near Kochi, are yet to pick up pace.

Visakhapatnam Port has completed first phase of dredging in the Inner Harbor to handle vessels with deadweight tonnage of 60,000 without lightening. The Port has achieved a 12.5 m draft and 14 m depth in the inner harbor, facilitating the handling of Panamax vessels, says Port Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu. The dredging was completed in difficult conditions to deepen the channel as it involved rock dredging, first of its kind in the world. The dredging, which involved blasting of rocks between two hills to increase the depth of the entrance channel, would be completed by March 31 with a total investment of $50 million. Krishna said the second phase of deepening of the entrance channel would be done by April.

Two ports on the Eastern Coast of India that suffered extensive damage from the Hudhud cyclone have provided a status update. Yesterday night port declared the impact of cyclone HudHud as  ‘force majeure’. As a very preliminary assessment of the port, “Hudhud” has caused extensive damage to Port infrastructure, including conveyor system, storage sheds, and other storage areas. The extent of damage will only be assessed and estimated in due course. Further, at this preliminary stage, it is apprehended that it may take around four weeks or more for Port operations to begin in a phased manner, though port indicating they will endeavor with best efforts to resume Port operations as early as possible.

Heavy Lift vessels visiting Indian ports are in for berthing delays at various ports. * In Mumbai Port, berthing delays of approx 10 days for vessel opting for BPS & BPX berths and for Harbour wall berth it is 8 days. For priority vessel it is approx 4 to 5 days. No delays inside Indira docks. * Waiting time in Nhava Sheva shallow water berth is  NIL to 1 day and depends further on the performance of ships at berth and cement vessel calling in near future. * Kandla port - berthing delays in normal import  is 8 to 9 days & normal export group is approx 2 to 3 days, and in 24 hrs group it is expected to be between 24 hrs to 36 hrs. * Mundra port is presently free from congestion. * Adani Hazira port - situation is normal. * Waiting period at Adani Dahej port is approx min 8 to 10 days.

Heavy Lift & Project vessels calling at Indian ports are experiencing congestion, which according to the trade is an artifically created situation. They point out that unlike other vessels, Heavy Lift vessels turnaround time may extends to two to three days or even more. As a result preference is given to other vessels. * In Mumbai Port, berthing delays of approx 8 to 10 days in normal group and for priority vessel 3 to 4 days for vessel opting for BPS & BPX berths,and for Harbour wall berth it is 3 to 4 days. No delays inside Indira docks. * Waiting time in Nhava Sheva shallow water berth is  NIL to 1 day and depends further on the performance of ships at berth and cement vessel calling in near future.

Because of their longer turnaround time heavy lift and project cargo vessels are not being given preferential berthing at most leading Indian ports creating in a kind of a 'pseudo congestion' situation at most ports. Besides, there is a lack of storage space generally at most ports for heavy lift and ODC (Over dimensional cargo) further aggravating the situation. 1) In Mumbai Port as on date there is berthing delays of approx 2 to 3 days for BPS & BPX berths and for Harbour wall berth the delay in getting berthing is approx 1 day. However, there is no delay inside Indira docks. 2) Waiting time at Nhava Sheva shallow water berth is nil to 1 day and depends further on the performance of ships at berth and cement vessel calling in near future.

Foreign players continue to dominate several segments of the Indian maritime industry: from salvage to dredging, chartering to ship management and ship manning, to name but a few. And the list of foreign firms setting up shop in India is growing as the country is hurriedly putting in place the required infrastructure to meet the huge demands of India’s growing international trade. Globally, India is the 7th largest country in area, 2nd in population and 11th in GDP, with the expectation that it will ascend to the top five in GDB by 2020. The country is blessed with a 4,700 mile coastline, making it one of the longest in the world not forgetting the 14…