The Hindu Business Line : KoPT to cut dry docking charges

KOLKATA Port Trust (KoPT) has decided to substantially reduce dry docking charges. The decision, taken at the meeting of the board of trustees held here on Tuesday, is to benefit the users of the dry docks located in the Kolkata Dock System (KDS). There are as many as five dry docks in the KDS - three of them in Kiddepore dock and two in Netaji Subhas Dock. There is no dry docking facility at the Haldia dock.

As per the decision, the dry docking charges for the first 10 days will be at par with those of Mumbai port. The subsequent jumps in charges for the period exceeding 10 days too will be much less than at present. "If you consider in totality, our charges will be lowest of all ports", said a spokesman for the port. But then not many other ports can claim to have dry docking facilities.

The dry docks in Kidderpore dock are suited for smaller vessels (maximum allowable dimension length of the vessels ranging from 102 metre to 160 metre) while those in Netaji Subhas dock for slightly larger vessels (the maximum allowable dimensional length in both the dry docks being 172.2 metre). However, the level of utilisation of the facilities has been far from satisfactory for various reasons, high tariffs being one of them.

At the insistence of the authorities in Delhi, KoPT had given on lease two of the dry docks to a private firm a few years ago. However, the experiment with so-called privatisation proved too costly for the port as the lessee did not clear the dues. The dispute is still pending in the court and port authorities are yet to realise the outstanding amount in full.