NMPT: Ship management hindered by silt!

aaron, Aug 25, 2019, 7:51 AM IST

Mangaluru: The arrival and departure of ships at the New Mangalore Port is being hindered by the accumulated silt here and this is having an adverse effect on the business of the port.

The port is a major route of export and import for the industries located in the vicinity of Mangaluru. The normal depth of the jetty here is 14 M, but this depth is available only from March followed by a couple of months in the year. During the other months, the depth is encroached by at least a meter of silt. Although dredging is conducted every year to neutralize this, it has not yet been conducted this year.

Amidst this, NMPT’s new 16^th jetty dredging has got stuck in another problem. Since the depth of the jetty is not as deep as per the contract, the ships are not coming into the port. As capital dredging has not yet been done, the maintenance of huge vessels is becoming tedious, states a complaint given to the union minister Mansukh Mandaviya by the Kanara Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

A mechanized coal management system has been installed at this jetty at the cost of Rs 469.46 crore and was given to Chettinad Mangalore Coal Ltd. Even though it is supposed to be 5.1 M deep, it is only 11.90 M deep. Hence, vessels bearing coal load are not entering the area. Instead, the vessels are being redirected to jetty no. 14, where the coal load is partially removed after which, the vessel is sent to jetty no. 16 for clearing its remaining load.

The president of the institution P B Abdul Hamid and Secretary Prashant C G have informed “Udayavani” that this problem is solely because of silt accumulation.

To the notice of centre

The issue regarding the problem being faced by the goods ship arriving at the berth in NMPT due to the accumulation of silt there has been brought to the notice of the union minister. The minister has assured that the union government ll take immediate action to resolve the issue – Nalin Kumar, MP

Drop in crude oil import

Although MRPL has a separate jetty at NMPT, it does not function during the monsoon season. Hence, crude oil is being brought to the 10^th and 11^th jetty. The depth of these jetties is 14 M and hence, the vessel can only carry a maximum load of 95,000 Mt of crude oil. But in the backdrop of the accumulation of silt, the import of crude oil has to be cut down by 10,000 Mt. This has caused losses, inform sources from MRPL.