'Kolkata Port plans to develop outer container terminal'

KOLKATA: In a bid to cut down expenses and save time, Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP), erstwhile Kolkata Port, is planning to develop an outer container terminal where ships can load and unload cargo avoiding movement through the lock gates.

"The world-class outer container terminal will be developed at Netaji Subhas Dock (NSD). Cargo vessels take a lot of time while having to pass through the lock gates, which open and close following a tidal timetable. This takes a lot of time and also kills the capacity of the port, which can otherwise handle more cargo. Once the world-class container terminal is developed, the efficiency of the port will improve and its capacity will be rightly utilized," the Chairman of Paradip Port Authority, P.L Haranadh, who has assumed the additional charge as Chairman of SMP Kolkata, said on Wednesday.

He added that SMP Kolkata would soon go ahead with the detailed project report (DPR) and expects to finalise the project by the end of this year. Elaborating on the project, Deputy Chairman, SMP Kolkata, Samrat Rahi, said the project conceived is a "brownfield project,"meaning that the core infrastructure needed for the same is already present and only some supporting infrastructure will be developed. "We do not need to separately prepare a berth as they have been existing at NSD. We just need to develop it and install some machines so that container operation can start. Since berths are located at the outer boundary of a port, ships will not have to enter the lock gates to deliver goods," he explained.

He maintained that the port's capacity is increasing with each passing year and is leading to identification of bottlenecks that needs to be removed for efficiency.

"In the 1990s, or the immediate period after that, time was comparatively not a big constraint but now it is. This project will help in reducing the turnaround time of the ships and hence save up on costs too,"he added.

SMP plans to make Kolkata a leading cruising centre of the eastern region and contemplates a Rs 76 crore-project to develop three-four cruise terminals along with riverfront beautification and commercial development on a 31-acre plot at Kidderpore.