Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) is hopeful of building additional jetties in the Haldia dock system in private partnership.
KoPT has identified the locations where additional jetties could be built.
Apart from the Jitterkhali jetty area that had a draft of around 10 metres and could accomodate another five to six jetties, the Kukrahati jetty near Raichak and the second oil jetty area are among the other possible locations.
It was still at an early planning stage, and expressions of interest would be floated only after a detailed feasibility study is conducted, said the KoPT spokesperson.
KoPT would enter into individual agreements with private partners for developing each of these jetties.
To get private investment into port modernisation, two berths had been allotted to private operators for a lease peiod of 30 years at the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC).
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Berth 12 was allotted for operation, management and maintenance and berth 4A allotted on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis to a strategic operator.
As KoPT was a riverine port with an average draft of 7.5m, efforts were on to find other locations with deeper draft to accommodate bigger vessels, the spokesperson said.
As against this, Association of Shipping Interests in Calcutta (ASIC), the nodal body of ship owners and shipping agents in Kolkata and Haldia, were worried that the Haldia channel draft had come down to 7m now, and was 6.5m a few days back.
The turn-around time for vessels had increased significantly thus affecting trade, ASIC claimed.
Passage between Vizag and Haldia ports that took sic days around two years back, had now gone up to 13 days.
KoPT achieved record container handling in the month of August this year, handling 41,379 TEUs (twenty equivalent units) last month.
KoPT’s previous handling record was 40,220 TEUs in February 2008.
The Kolkata dock system handled 28,128 TEUs, and the Haldia dock system handled 13,251 TEUs.