Cranes of 3 Tonne Capacity, Fork-Lift-Trucks of 1 to 3 Tonne Capacity and a Floating Crane of 30 Tonne Capacity Were Procured During the 1950S
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WELCOME to the Port of Visakhapatnam, the Gateway to the East Coast of India. It plays a crucial role as the middle point distribution base for Southern, Eastern, Central and Northern states of India. Described as the “Brightest Jewel” of all Indian major ports for its outstanding performance and productivity, Visakhapatnam Port serves as a catalyst in spurring domestic and international trade. he need for a port in this part of the country was emphasised as early as in 1858 in a report of a British Survey Party. This was underlined in the report titled “Vizag, the Port of central Provinces” (1877). Mr. E.S. Thomas, while submitting the proposals for creation of the port in 1872 described it as the most natural and most easily formed port’ on the east coast of India. The daughter of Sir Arthur Cotton described the Harbour as a natural outlet for northern India by a direct railway to Allahabad and observed the location as a strategic point on the eastern coast where incomparably the `best harbour’ can be made by a single break-water run out from the bold promontory of the Dolphin’s Nose. It was only in 1914 that the proposal for construction of a harbour at Visakhapatnam was initiated by the then Bengal Nagpur Railway and in 1922 a proposal of Col. H. Cartwright Reid of British Admiralty for the construction of a harbour at the mouth of river Meghadrigedda was adopted. The construction work which started in 1927 continued upto 1933 and the first commercial vessel S.S. JALADURGA of M/s. Scindia Steam Navigation Co., entered the Port on the 7th October, 1933 providing initially a sea outlet for Manganese Ore. The Saga of the construction of the harbour particularly forming of entrance channel, sinking of two old ships `JANUS’ and `WELLESDONE’ to form break-water instead of building a wall in the sea were all feats in engineering and are subjects of discussion even today. Mr.W.C. Ash and Mr. D.B. Ratternberry were the Engineers who played prominent role in constructing this beautiful harbour. The port was formally inaugurated by His Excellency Lord Willingdon, the then Viceroy and Governor General of India on 19th Dec. 1933. Nestling among a chain of hills, the Vizag harbour is really one of the wonders of the nature, as if it has been intended by God that a man in this area must benefit by a very safe anchorage to ships. The entrance channel is protected by, two massive rock hills, namely Dolphin’s Nose on the Southern side and Ross Hill on the Northern side and these two hills shelter a bay which possessed sufficient depth for the ships which were engaged in sea trade upto 1950s. The high promontory of the Dolphin’s Nose hill into the sea provides protection from cyclones which strike the East Coast. The low tidal range of a maximum of 1.82 mtrs., is also advantageous for the location of the Port. The existence of this natural harbour has transformed the sleepy fisherman village once called as `Vizag’ into one of the fastest growing industrial cities of the world. The Port has striking similarities with Durban Port of Africa in the sense that the later is also surrounded by a hill on the South Side. It is due to this reason that Engineer Mr. W.C. Ash studied Durban Port before developing this Port. Mr. Chalapathi Rao, one of the famour writers described the Docks and Harbour works of this Port as `PICASSO’s cubist pictures. The port Administration which was under Bengal-Nagpur Railway in 1933 passed through different departments and Ministries of the Government. of India till its transfer to the Port Trust in Feb. 1964 under the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 as shown below: 1926-35 RAILWAY BOARD 1935-37 COMMERCIAL DEPT. 1937-42 COMMUNICATIONS DEPT 1042-44 WAR TRANSPORT DEPT 1944-46 DEFENCE (WAR) DEPT 1946-56 BENGAL NAGPUR RLY 1956-64 MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT 1964-FEB TRUST, UNDER MPT ACT When opened for sea going vessels in 1933, the port had only three berths with a cargo handling capacity of 0.3 million tonnes. The chronological events of developments are described in the succeeding paras. 1951-61: During this period, three jetty berths and one quay berth (EQ.4) were constructed. One transit shed (T-5) was built and T-1 was upgraded. To enable M/s. Caltex (renamed as M/s. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.) to establish a refinery and to facilitate discharging crude oil and pumping petroleum products direct to/from the storage tanks, an oil wharf consisting two oil berths was constructed in 1957. During 1950s, slings and pallets for cargo loading/unloading were introduced which were later augmented and replaced by grabs. Electrical wharf cranes of 3 tonne capacity, fork-lift-trucks of 1 to 3 tonne capacity and a floating crane of 30 tonne capacity were procured during the 1950s. A self- propelled 150 tonne floating crane, “Bheema” – the first of its kind in major ports was added to the fleet of craft. Facilities for discharge/pumping of mineral oils, through pipelines, direct to the storage tanks of the refinery were introduced in 1957. 1961-71: In tune with the deployment of specialized ships for specific cargo and to fulfil the long term agreement entered by the Government of India for exporting Bailadilla ore to Japan, two captive berths were added in 1965. In order to meet the long term ore export commitments to Japan, the system of loading iron ore by semi-mechanised means was dispensed with. A Mechanical ore handling plant to load iron ore at the rate of 8000 TPH – the first of its kind in the Indian Port Sector and acclaimed as `Gem of Automation’ was built in 1965. In response to requirements projected by a private fertilizer factory M/s. Coromandel Fertilisers Ltd., a captive berth for unloading fertilizers was constructed in the year and leased out way back in 1967 and thius earned the reputation of the first major port to introduce the concept of privatization. Mechanised facilities for discharging fertilizer raw materials through conveyors were introduced in 1968. Also, two multi-purpose cargo berths were commissioned during 1966-68 to meet increasing trade demand. 1971-81: The closure of the Suez canal in the mid sixties necessitated the deployment of deep draft tankers in the global shipping. To meet this challenge, an oil mooring was developed in 1976 to accommodate large crude ships. In consonance with the changing technological trends in shipping and transportation systems, an outer port was commissioned in 1976 to accommodate ships of size 150,000 DWT at a cost of about Rs.110 crores, which stands out as the biggest expansion programme of the Indian Port Sector during the firth five year plan. The outer port construction gave further fillip to the cargo throughput and in the succeeding years, the cargo throughput at outer port dominated the founding port (inner port). The primary objective of the outer port was to provide an outlet for export of iron ore through deep draft bulk carriers. 1981-91: As a response to the increasing trading of oil by large crude carriers, an off shore tanker terminal to accommodate crude tankers upto 150,000 DWT was commissioned in 1985. In conformity with the increasing trading of bulk carriers of 50,000 to 85,000 DWT, a General-cum-Bulk cargo berth to cater to ships upto 60,000 DWT was commissioned in 1985. 1991-2001: Keeping in view the changing needs of sea transportation system, the old jetties were converted into a regular quay berth with more apron width in 1992 and 1994 to facilitate installation of heavier loads. A multi-purpose berth to cater to ships upto 11 mtrs. Draft was commissioned on 30.7.1995. An exclusive and specialized terminal for discharging LPG from gas carriers at the outer harbour was constructed in 2001. 2001-2006 Berths: The first BOT project - Container terminal at outer harbour - commenced its operation in June, 2003 which was concessioned to Visakha Container Terminal P Ltd.,- A Joint venture company owned by Dubai Port International and J.M. Baxi (P) Limited. Two new berths in the extended Northern arm of Inner Harbour (EQ.8 & EQ.9) were developed on BOT basis by M/s.Vizag Sea Port Pvt. Ltd., a Joint Venture between Portia Management Services, U.K. & M/s.Gammon India Ltd., Mumbai and commissioned during 1994 and 1995. One multi purpose berth WQ-7 in the inner harbour was commissioned on 29th July 2005 by Hon’ble Minister for Shipping , Road Transport and High ways. Other facilities : One 50 tonne BP tug was commissioned in the year 2000-01. Ten No.s of 15 Tonne Electric Wharf cranes were commissioned in 2001. Mechanised dust suppression system designed and erected by MECONS was commissioned on 5th June 2002. One rail mounted stacker of 2700 TPH capacity was commissioned on 28th May, 2003. One No. fire float of Agni Class-I was commissioned on 2nd September, 2003. Four wharf cranes of 20 Tonne were commissioned in 2004-05. One FRP launch was commissioned on 2nd January, 2005. One dredger built by M/s. Hindutan Shipyard Ltd., was commissioned on 9th Feb. 2005. Information Technology was introduced into port operations 1st. April, 2002. HARBOUR FACILITIES OUTER INNER HARBOUR FACILITY HARBOUR Water Panamax 100 spread 200 (Hectares) 210 LOA up to 195 up to 280 (Mts.) Draft (on 10.70 11.00 high tide) 17 (Mts.) Beam 32.50 32.26 48 (Mts.) 45,000 D.W.T.