 "Gopalpur port to resume operations next month")
The last vessel to anchor at the port was on October 7, 2013. Operations stopped after the Phailin cyclone hit the state's southern coast on October 12, 2013. A year later, the port was hit again by another cyclonic storm, Hudhud. Battered, several portions of the port, including its breakwater, had been damaged. "We expect the repair work to be completed by the end of October," said M M Moharana, director (operations), Gopalpur Port Ltd (GPL). The progress was recently reviewed by a team led by the state's transport and commerce secretary, Sanjay Rastogi.
"(We) have already started negotiation with different user companies on cargo handling," said Moharana. It will be able to accommodate 50,000-tonne vessels after it opens for traffic. Earlier, it could not handle more than 15,000-tonners. The depth and length of the jetty has been increased to 12.5 metres and 225 metres, from 10 metres and 150 metres, respectively.
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GPL has proposed to further enhance the cargo handling capacity from 3.5 million tonnes annually to five mt.
Located in southern Odisha's Ganjam coast, it is the third one in the state, after Paradip and Dhamra. GPL has spent Rs 900 crore on the project to upgrade from a seasonal port to an all-weather one.
GPL had been promoted by Orissa Stevedores (OSL), the Delhi-based Sara International and Hong Kong-based Noble Group. The Orissa government had awarded the port development work to GPL on a build-operate-transfer basis in 2008, the envisaged investment being 1,200 crore. Noble had pulled out of the consortium and GPL is now a 51:49 venture between OSL and Sara International.
AFTER THE STORM
- Gopalpur port to restart operations from the first week of next month
- Operations had stopped after the Phailin cyclone hit the state's southern coast on October 12, 2013
- Gopalpur is the third port in the state, after Paradip and Dhamra