Chennai and Kamarajar ports are set to see a major transformation, with the former to be hub for supply of fuel for ships on the East coast, and the latter to be Cape-compliant to handle large Capesize vessels.
Chennai port will have an exclusive berth to handle the marine fuel. At present, the bunkering operations of the port are being carried out within the port limit for vessels calling the port at berth or at anchorage. Bunkering involves supplying fuel for use by ships, including the logistics of loading and distributing the fuel among available shipboard tanks.
The Union Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, on Sunday, inaugurated the bunker berth at the Chennai port under the Sagarmala project at a cost of ₹50 crore, with a Government Budgetary Support of ₹22 crore provided for the project.
The Minister also inaugurated the widening and concreting of the Kamarajar port access road, from Vallur junction to North Chennai Thermal Power Station junction, by the Kamarajar Port Ltd at a cost of ₹92 crore.
The bunker berth has come up at the oil berth Bharathi Dock has a capacity to handle 1 million tonnes annually. The berth will enable handling of bunker tanker up to 10,000 deadweight tonne, said the Chennai Port Authority (ChPA).
For now, any one can operate the berth. However, ChPA is in discussions with Indian Oil Corporation for taking over the facility, said sources.
IOC is a leading bunker fuels supplier in India, supplying 100 per cent of bunker requirement to the Indian Navy and for the vessels calling the Chennai port. It supplies Residual Bunker Fuel - Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil, which has better ignition quality, and is expected to not emit excess black smoke.
It also supplies Distillate Bunker Fuel-Low Sulphur Marine Gas Oil or High Flash High Speed Diesel (HFHSD), specifically formulated to meet Naval distillate standard.
The Minister reviewed the works carried out by the ChPA and KPL. Later, talking to newspersons, he said Kamarajar port will be Cape-compliant by achieving a draft of 18 m at an investment of ₹549 crore, as the shipping industry is shifting to bigger sizes for achieving economies of scale. The higher draft will also held in further attracting cargoes like limestone, coal and gypsum and bigger vessels to the port, he said.
The Minister said a combined target of handling 100 million tonnes has been fixed for both Chennai and Kamarajar ports. Through the acquisition of KPL by ChPA , full synergy has been achieved between the two ports.
During 2022-23, both ports together handled 92.46 mt with the Chennai port handling 48.95 mt and Kamarajar port handling 43.51 mt.
On the Chennai port to Maduravoyal elevated expressway, the Minister said work would be awarded by June-end. The first phase of the Multimodoal Logistics Park at Mappedu costing ₹349.78 crore will be completed by June 2025. The park is being jointly implemented by National Highways Logistics Management Limited (a special purpose vehicle of the National Highways Authority of India), the ChPA, Tamil Nadu government through Tidco and Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd.