Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Feb 18, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Feb 18, 2003 |
|
|
|
|
|
Logistics
-
Shipping Vizag port asks IOC, SCI to undertake lighterage operation Santanu Sanyal
KOLKATA, Feb. 17 BELEAGUERED by the loss of transhipment crude traffic, an estimated 1.5 million tonnes in 2002-03 compared to the previous year, the Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) has appealed to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) to undertake crude lighterage operation by way of ship-to-ship discharge in high sea near the port (outside the outer harbour) with the assurance that it might charge nominal rates as wharfage. The essence of the operation will be that huge crude carriers — very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and ultra large crude carriers (ULCCs) — even as they float will discharge the cargo in smaller daughter vessels for the second round of discharge in other ports. A meeting held recently in Mumbai at SCI's office and attended by all the agencies concerned resolved to start the operation on an experimental basis from the middle of next month when the lighterage operation at the Sandheads might be difficult to continue, as the sea would become choppy around that time. VPT's loss of transhipment crude traffic so far this year is attributed largely to the huge success of similar operation currently in progress at the Sandheads, the mouth of the Hooghly River. The operation started in October and an estimated 3.2 million tonnes of crude will be handled till mid-March. Most important, for the first time in Indian waters, huge ULCCs with full load participated in the lighterage operation at the Sandheads, entailing huge cost savings for the public sector oil company. Under the present transhipment operation at the Sandheads, the crude from VLCCs and ULCCs was discharged into smaller vessels for the second round of discharge at Haldia and Chennai ports. IOC has also undertaken crude lighterage at Kakinada port where the wharfage is reasonable. At the Mumbai meeting, VPT is believed to have assured both SCI and IOC that it will match the rate of Kakinada port and might quote even lower than the rate currently being charged by Kolkata port at the Sandheads. The Kolkata Port Trust charges around Rs 26/27 per tonne of crude handled at the Sandheads. At another meeting held in Mumbai almost at the same time, the officials of Kolkata Port Trust, IOC and SCI explored the possibility of continuing the lighterage operation at the Sandheads even beyond mid-March. Such continuation, it was felt, could be possible if, instead of ship-to-ship discharge, tandem mooring operation was undertaken. Within the next one-month-and-a-half, equipment like rope chains and other materials would be procured. At least two of SCI's Aframax tankers, currently on charter with IOC, would be used for the purpose. However, during the trial run, the vessels would be in balast (i.e., they would be carrying water, not crude). Meanwhile, Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd's (CPCL) Nagapattinam jetty has started accepting crude tankers. The formal inauguration of the jetty by the Union Petroleum Minister, Mr Ram Naik, is likely on March 1, it is learnt. CPCL now belongs to IOC.
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|