West Quay-6 of VPA to get revamped

Visakhapatnam : Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) awarded concession to the Concessionaire Integrated Cargo Terminal Private Ltd., an SPV of Orissa Stevedores Limited, for revamping the existing West Quay – 6 (WQ – 6) terminal for handling all types of dry bulk cargo on design, build finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis.

The proposed facility is a revamping of the existing west quay – 6 berth with berth length of 255-mt. with a dredge depth draft of 14-mt and can cater Panamax Vessels with LoA 230-mt.

The project envisages installation of two new harbour mobile crane (HMC) of 1,500 TPH with lifting capacity of 120 T, two mobile hoppers along with other handling equipment i.e. cranes, loaders, trucks, fork lifts, etc. with an total investment of Rs.165.70 crores which includes upfront payment of Rs.77.20 crore towards berth.

The facility can handle all types of dry Bulk cargoes. The terminal proposed has an inbuilt advantage of having a backup area of 2.3 acres adjacent to the berth for temporary storage of cargo and about 12.2 acres of stack yard within 1-km from the berth front.

The facility developed is envisaged for handling vessels between 58,000 to 60,000 DWT and the entire construction work is likely to complete within 18 months from the date of award of concession.

According to the port officials, the proposed facility, coming up with the state-of-the-art-technology, is likely to generate employment to about 100 direct or indirect employment opportunities to locals.

Deputy chairperson of the VPA Durgesh Kumar Dubey handed over the award of concession for WQ-6 berth for a period of 30 years to Integrated Cargo Terminal Private Limited (ICTPL).

Director of ICTPL JK Nayak and Deputy COO JS Kampani received the award of concession in the presence of secretary of the VPA T Venu Gopal, among other officials.