The Hindu Business Line : Tuticorin Port Trust plans to build shipbuilding yard

Plans ahead
Tuticorin is ideally located close to the East-West International Sea-route.
The project would also provide scope for development of allied industries connected with shipbuilding.
The facility would also give additional cargo for the port in the form of steel.

The container terminal at Tuticorin Port.

Chennai , Sept. 19

The Tuticorin Port Trust plans to build a shipbuilding yard on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) or lease basis at a cost of Rs 1,400 crore.

It would provide employment for about 5,000 people and build six Panamax size ships per year. The dock would be 390 m long, 65 m wide and 10 m high, said a port trust official.

Korea Maritime Consultants Company Ltdwhich was engaged by Goodearth Maritime Ltd, Chennai, did a pre-feasibility study of the project and recently submitted its report to the port trust.

The facility would be established on 49.68 hectares — 31.68 hectares of reclaimed area and 18 hectares of waterfront. It would be 1,200 m with five berths, the official said.

Tuticorin port, which is located on the southeastern coast of India, 650 km south of Chennai, is strategically located close to the East-West International Sea-route.

Good potential

The potential for developing a shipbuilding yard is good in Tuticorin considering its strategic location, availability of suitable land mass and manpower, topographical and geographical condition, rocky sea bed requiring no maintenance dredging, sheltered from wind and waves, easy accessibility by road, rail and air, suitable weather condition.

The port, which handles around 1,500 ships a year, also has the advantage of vast hinterland. The project would also provide scope for development of allied industries connected with shipbuilding, the official said quoting the study.

According to the official, the facility would also give additional cargo for the port in the form of steel. The study said that 60,000 to 66,000 tonnes of steel meant for the facility would be handled at the yard in a year.

Support system

Ancillary facilities to support the yard would include a pipe fabrication and assembly unit, pre-erection yard, galvanising unit, hull fabrication section and provision to stack steel, pipes and hull blocks, the official said.

The official said it would take four years to set up the facility. This includes getting all statutory clearances.

The port trust now proposes to place the study report before the joint board of trustees shortly and seek the approval of the Union Government for offering the project on BOT or lease basis, the official said.

Based on the pre-feasibility study, the port trust would put out a tender for doing a feasibility study, and later an open tender would be called for from potential BOT operators to take up the project, the official said.