Old berths at Vizag Port to become history
andhrapradesh | Written by : Suryaa Desk
New ones to handle Panamax ships with two lakh deadweight tonnage
Berths built in 1933 at the Visakhapatnam Port will slip into the annals of history with work in progress to dismantle them and take up construction of berths to receive the Panamax ships with two lakh deadweight tonnage.
East quay-2 and 5 partly and 3 and 4 fully are being converted into 14.5 metres draft from 11 m. to handle more cargo.
One of these berths received the first passenger vessel SS Jaladurga for Scindia Navigation Company. Ramabrahmam & Sons did the stevedoring.
“The old berths have turned redundant. To handle clean cargo and larger capacity vessels, we are creating two world-class berths in that area near the Jubilee Gate,” Visakhapatnam Port Deputy Chairman P.L. Haranadh told The Hindu.
The ITD Cementation Ltd has been awarded the contract to construct the two big berths at a cost of ?192 crore. The work is scheduled for completion by September, 2018. “My grandfather built one of the berths in those days. Hence, we have a lot of attachment to them. They are now becoming history because of technological advancement and the need to handle bigger vessels for freight advantage,” said Visakhapatnam Stevedores’ Association president K. Krishna Kumar.
The Port used to attract cloth, hides and skins for the Burma vessels of the British India Steam Navigation Company. The breakwater was created by scuttling Janus and Wellesden ships. The inner harbour was built by the Bengal Nagpur Railway between 1927 and 1933 to provide sea route to manganese ore from then Central Provinces (undivided Madhya Pradesh). The Dolphin’s Nose Hill located on the north of the entrance channel protects the harbour from cyclones.