Shipping Ministry invites EOI for Deep-draft port in West Bengal

Kolkata, Aug 13 (UNI) Shipping Ministry has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) on July 31 for setting up a deep draft port in West Bengal.

Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) Chairman Anup Chanda told UNI today that EoI had been invited to appoint consultants for this project to start a feasibility study for this new port in the state.

The draft of this port would be around 16.5 mt deep, Mr Chanda added.

A deep draft port is one with an average draft of 16-17 mt so that large vessels such as Capesize bulk carriers (80,000 dwt and above) and Suezmax tankers (100,000 - 150,000 dwt) could call there with full load.

'' In this year's budget, the Union Government has already allocated Rs 10 crore for this project. Shipping Ministry is keen on constructing this port in the state, '' Mr Chanda mentioned.

Last year the state government had approached the Union Government for setting up a deep draft port.

Kolkata port, being a riverine port, suffers from the draft restriction caused by the poor navigability of the Hooghly river, prone to heavy siltation. The draft restriction prevents large vessels from calling at the port with full load, causing enormous problems for both port authorities and users.

Kolkata Port Trust had been toying for some time with the idea of setting up a new port at Sagar Island, which is closer to the sea and therefore, has a higher average draft.

But the Union Government was not convinced with the average draft at Sagar Island. The present policy of the Union Government is to support creation of new port facilities only with deep draft.

The present 10.5-mt draft at Sagar Island, though higher than what is currently available in either Kolkata Dock System or at Haldia, is low enough to be called a deep draft location.

Mr Chanda said any new deep draft port should be a sea port for which a suitable location has to be identified.

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