The Hindu Business Line : Chennai port gets new dredger, cranes

The dredger, Cauvery, procured at a cost of Rs 56.27 crore, built by Cochin Shipyard Ltd, can dredge up to a depth of 22 metres in ports, coastal areas, sheltered and unsheltered rivers and estuaries. Over 3 lakh cubic metres of soil are dredged at the Chennai port every year as part of its maintenance. The new self-propelled dredger replaces Coleroon, which dredged the port for the last two decades, says a Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) press release.

The new cranes can handle various types of cargo, including fertiliser, cobblestones, barites and iron scrap. ChPT procured the four 15-tonne capacity electric level luffing wharf cranes at a cost of Rs 19.76 crore from Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

Tamil Nadu's former Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, commissioned the dredger and the cranes at a function here .

The Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Mr T.R. Baalu, told newspersons on the occasion that a public hearing on the Sethusamudhuram Canal project would be held in the last week of August. The consultants for preparing a detailed project report for the Rs 2,000-crore project will be finalised by the month-end, and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur, has completed the environmental impact assessment, he said.