MORMUGAO PORT TRUST
PROJECT DETAILS AND LOCATION MAP
Mormugao Port is a Major Port on the West Coast of India has completed 125 years of glorious service to the nation’s maritime trade. It is located at latitude of 15° 25’ N and longitude of 73° 47’ E between the Major Ports of New Mangalore and Mumbai. The Port serves the geographical regions of Goa, Karnataka and parts of Maharastra and Andhra Pradesh. Major commodities being handled at the Port are Coal, Iron Ore, POL and general cargo items.
Because of the proximity of the Port with various mining regions in Goa, the Port assumed the role of a premier Iron Ore exporting port of the country. However, the requirement of coal from various steel industries and power generating units have made it an attractive and cost effective destination for coal imports and steel exports.
The Port has 7 cargo handling berths of which two are dedicated coal berths, one dedicated iron ore berth and a dedicated POL berth and the remaining general cargo berths. Apart from these 7 berths, there is also a dedicated berth for cruise vessels and a non cargo berth which is proposed to be earmarked for the exclusive use of Navy and Coast Guard and 6 nos Mooring Dolphins. There is 6.0 km of entrance channel with the depth of outer channel being 14.40 m and that of the inner channel being 14.10 m. The Port has a total land area of 530 acres (approx.). The Figure 1 provides the layout of Mormugao Port
Figure 1 Layout of Mormugao Port
Need for the project
Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) is strategically located to cater to the needs of the coal requirement of steel and power plants of its hinterland in Karnataka. MPT presently imports about 7 million tons of coal. MPT has 2 dedicated coal berths which has a combined capacity of about 12 million tons per annum. Although MPT is ideally located to serve the industries in the hinterlands of Karnataka, a lot of cargo including coal is imported through some of the ports situated in eastern coast of India despite the fact that the rail distance from these port to the industries are much more compared to Mormugao Port. Apart from the fact that the South Western Railway network is heavily congested, the other reason is that these port have deeper channel to handle Capesize vessels. Imports/Exports through Capesize vis-à-vis Panamax vessels will result in freight advantage and thereby the industries stand to benefit. This will also make imports cheaper and exports more competitive leading to overall economic growth and employment creation.
Description of the project
The existing depth of the outer channel is 14.40 mts and inner channel is 14.10mts. A fully loaded Panamax vessel can be handled under these conditions by taking advantage of tide. The proposal is to deepen the outer channel to -19.80 mts and inner channel to -19.50 mts. This will facilitate navigation of Capesize vessels at any state of tide.
A few boreholes have been taken to ascertain the nature of material. Sub bottom profiling of the area was also done earlier. Before commencement of the project, a few more boreholes will be done. Other studies which has been initiated include siltation studies, location of dumping ground and wave tranquility studies. These studies are carried out by CWPRS, Pune.
The material to be dredged will mainly consist of silt and clay. A small quantity of weathered rock may be encountered. The total quantity to be dredged will be about 12.75 million cum. Most of the dredging work will be undertaken with a Trailer Suction Hopper Dredger(TSHD). A Cutter Suction Dredger (CSD) will also be deployed for hard material and weathered rock if encountered. Blasting will not be involved. The dredged material will be dumped in the designated dumping ground suggested by CWPRS.
The total cost of the project will be about Rs.530 crores.The project will be completed within a period of 8 months.