Dredging Corporation bags VPT's northern arm dredging project

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) has bagged the contract for the dredging of the northern arm of Visakhapatnam Port, which is the last of the three dredging works being taken up by Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) to increase the navigable depths at the major port.
Dharti Dredging and Infrastructure Limited (DDIL) and DCI had bid for the project aimed at increasing the depth of the northern arm from the existing 12.5 metres to around 16.5 metres, according to sources.The project estimated at around Rs 32 crore will involve dredging of nearly 1 million cubic metres of soil from the northern arm of the VPT.
The completion of the project, the contract for which was awarded two days ago, will enable vessels with a draft of around 14.5 metres to enter the inner channel, leading to increased cargo handling capacity at VPT, said sources.
"The formalities are expected to be completed soon and work on the project should start by July. We expect the work to be over within six months. By the beginning of the next calendar year, cargo handling will improve drastically," said a senior VPT official.
"The project has finally been awarded after much delay and will greatly improve the traffic handling capacity at VPT," said an industry source, adding that 17 berths in the inner harbour, including that of four private terminal operators, are likely to benefit from the dredging project.
Until now Panamax vessels coming into VPT had to lightened at the outer harbour before they could enter the northern arm, said the source. However, once the dredging of the northern arm is completed, Panamax vessels can directly dock at the berths because of which the turnaround time would also improve resulting in better efficiency.
VPT has taken up three dredging projects to increase navigable depths. Of these, one project related to increasing the depth of outer harbour has already been completed. The second dredging project of increasing depth of the inner channel and turning circle of the inner harbour is currently being undertaken by DDIL.
VPT has spent nearly Rs 370 crore for the three dredging projects. The outer harbour dredging project was taken up at a cost of Rs 130 crore to enable vessels up to 2 lakh DWT to dock at the seven berths, while VPT has spent around Rs 212 crore to excavate 1 million cubic metres of soil for dredging of the entrance channel and inner harbour turning circle.
An official working at a private terminal operator in the inner harbour said, "The dredging of the entrance channel was expected to be completed by the end of June, but we expect that it will be completed by July end or early August. Once this project nears completion, VPT is likely to start dredging work on the northern arm of the inner harbour."