Haldia dock to be shut for dredging work

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Apr 2008

Haldia dock under the Kolkata Port Trust will remain closed for nearly eight to nine days in May in two phases – first from May 12 to 15 and again from May 20 to 25 – to undertake dredging in the approach channel and inside the dock basin. There will be no cargo handling operation or any ship movement during the period. Giving this information here, Mr Rajeev Dube, Deputy Chairman of Kolkata Port Trust in-charge of Haldia dock, stated that the shipping lines, trade and other users had already been informed of it.
“The inconvenience they will be put to because of the temporary closure of the dock will be compensated by the benefits that will follow the proposed dredging to be undertaken by the Dredging Corporation of India,” Mr Dube observed while addressing members of the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
The poor navigability of the Hooghly river, he said, posed the biggest challenge to the dock authorities. KoPT spent over Rs 350 crore every year on maintenance dredging and the behaviour of the river being very unpredictable it was no point making any cost-benefit analysis of the expenditure.
Also, the availability of dredgers was a major problem facing DCI which, by the Union Government decision, was solely responsible for maintenance dredging in the Hooghly river.
River front jetties
Mr Dube made it clear there was no possibility of constructing any more berth within the dock. “That chapter is closed,” he said. There were therefore proposals for constructing new berths on the river front outside the dock. While the location of one of the river front jetties had been finalised, that for the other was still to be identified because of the excessive shoaling the river, he said.
The productivity of the dock therefore was being augmented through mechanisation of operations for which various measures had been adopted.
“Mechanisation and modernisation of berths will be a continuous process depending on the types of cargoes to be handled,” he said.
The lock-gate, which can be operated only during the tide for ingress and egress of the vessels, was another source of concern.
“We’re examining various options, both short-term and long-term, as to how to operate the lock more often,” he said, pointing out that there was a proposal even to talk to the foreign firm that originally supplied the equipment.

Source: The Hindu Business Line