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The New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) has begun work on the construction of the berth number 13, which helps the port handle POL (petroleum, oil and lubricant) products at the port.
Mr P. Tamilvanan, Chairman of NMPT, told Business Line here on Wednesday that the work for the project was awarded on December 9, 2010, and work began on February 12. The completion period for the project is 20 months. The total project cost is estimated at Rs 79 crore. After completion, the berth can handle around 7.68 million tonnes of POL cargo a year.
He said the berth would help meet the requirements of POL users, including Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL).
Coal berth
Construction of the Rs 230-crore berth No 15 is in progress at the port for handling coal cargo. The berth, which can handle 5.4 million tonnes of cargo a year, is expected to be completed by April, he said. The Udupi Power Corporation Ltd, which has a thermal power plant at Padubidri, will handle around three million tonnes of coal a year from this berth.
Stating that the coal cargo has grown at the port over the past six years, he said the coal traffic, which was 3.15 lakh tonnes during 2004-05, increased to 27.90 lakh tonnes during 2009-10.
Container terminal
Asked about the construction of a container terminal at the port, he said the port had received 14 expressions of interest (EOIs) for the project. Of them, five were selected for RFQ (request for quotation). Investors did not show interest in RFP (request for proposal) as the container handling rate was less. However, Mr Tamilvanan said, the port is pursuing for a container terminal.
The container cargo at the port has been witnessing a growth over the years with more mainline vessels calling at the port. Mr Tamilvanan said the seventh mainline container vessel from East Africa — m.v. Kota Nazim — called at the port on February 13. The vessel, which unloaded 281 TEUs of raw cashew cargo, loaded 132 TEUs of export containers of fish meal and granite, he said.
He said the port handled five heavy consignments for Bharathi Shipyard weighing around 2,000 tonnes. The project cargo from South Korea was brought in m.v. Dongbang No 3 on February 12, and the cargo was unloaded using ro-ro (roll on roll off) method, he added.
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