The Hindu Business Line : Haldia dock plans to build Rs 20-cr multipurpose berth

BUOYED by the surge in traffic, Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) has a proposal to construct a new multipurpose berth within its impounded dock system. A proposal to this effect will be placed shortly before the board of trustees of the Kolkata Port Trust, according to informed sources. On completion of construction of this berth, to be christened Number Two, the number of berths within the impounded dock system will rise to 13. Haldia dock has got additional three berths; all oil jetties, on the riverfront outside the impounded dock system. These are called HOJ 1, HOJ 2 and HOJ 3.

Estimated to cost Rs 20 crore, the proposed berth will be built most probably by the dock authorities themselves. As of now, there is no proposal to take the BOT route for the same.

Meanwhile, in the first five months of the current fiscal, the traffic handled by HDC has crossed the 14-million-tonne mark. At this rate, the dock authorities hope to exceed the targeted traffic level of 34 m.t. in 2004-05 compared with 32.3 m.t. handled in 2003-04.

The growth in traffic is attributed mainly to crude throughput, which has been in the region of one-m.t. a month on an average. What has been particularly heartening for the dock authorities is the rise in average parcel load of crude tankers, the current average parcel load being in excess of 50,000 tonnes.

Barring first two months of the current fiscal, April and May, when China virtually stopped buying, the throughput of iron ore for exports too has been satisfactory. In August alone, the throughput was around 4.5 lakh tonnes. In 2003-04, the throughput was 3.75 m.t., expected to rise to more than four m.t. in the current fiscal.

However, the breakdown of the conveyor system in the mechanised ore berth (No. 3) has caused some disruption in the ore shipments from the dock. The mechanised ore handling plant has remained shut down for the past few days. "However, we are trying to load manually in other berths, namely, 4B and 9", according to HDC sources. "Hopefully, the ore handling plant will return to normalcy soon", they added.

The coking coal imports too have been on the rise. In 2003-04, the coking coal throughput was around 4.47 m.t., likely to exceed the five-m.t. mark in the current fiscal. The container throughput till August this fiscal was around 53,000 TEUs compared to 51,000 TEUs in the same period of the previous fiscal.