Mega-terminal for Chennai
Chennai may soon have the most modern and first of its kind deep-sea container terminal in India.
The Chennai Port Trust (CPT) has announced a project to build a mega-container terminal capable of handling even the biggest container ships of 15,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) capacity.
Plans for an along-side depth of 18 metres (m) would rank the new terminal among the world's deepest.
A continuous quay length of two kilometres (km) and new berths, to accommodate ships with lengths exceeding 400 m, have also been added, giving Chennai the ability to cope with shipping's most modern and largest container ships.
Other project details include the construction of two new breakwaters, one as an extension of the existing outer arm and the other extending from the fishing harbour breakwater, aimed at providing a basin area of around 300 hectares.
The CPT has announced plans for the proposed breakwater extending from the outer arm to be utilized as a deep drafted oil berth for handling very large crude carriers (VLCCs).
According to India's Economic Times, the CPT said that total project costs have been estimated at $752 million (3,050 crore).
The CPT had recently announced its intention for Chennai to be the container hub of the Indian east coast.
An initial business plan has scheduled for a throughput of five million TEUs by 2027 compared to the current volume of close to one million TEUs.
Chairman of the CPT, K Suresh, has indicated that iron ore and coal trading will be moved over to Ennore port, with the available space being converted to new container terminals.
The privately-managed Chennai container terminal handled 885,000 TEUs during 2006-07, an increase of 20.5% from the year before. A second container terminal is currently under construction by PSA-Sical, expected to be operational by October 2008.
"By the time the second terminal reaches one million TEUs by 2012-13, the port will have its third container terminal. New facilities will be ready every five years up to 2027 to touch five million TEUs," Suresh said.
 |
| CPT chairman expects throughput of 5 million TEUs by 2027 |
Plans for an along-side depth of 18 metres (m) would rank the new terminal among the world's deepest.
A continuous quay length of two kilometres (km) and new berths, to accommodate ships with lengths exceeding 400 m, have also been added, giving Chennai the ability to cope with shipping's most modern and largest container ships.
Other project details include the construction of two new breakwaters, one as an extension of the existing outer arm and the other extending from the fishing harbour breakwater, aimed at providing a basin area of around 300 hectares.
The CPT has announced plans for the proposed breakwater extending from the outer arm to be utilized as a deep drafted oil berth for handling very large crude carriers (VLCCs).
According to India's Economic Times, the CPT said that total project costs have been estimated at $752 million (3,050 crore).
The CPT had recently announced its intention for Chennai to be the container hub of the Indian east coast.
An initial business plan has scheduled for a throughput of five million TEUs by 2027 compared to the current volume of close to one million TEUs.
Chairman of the CPT, K Suresh, has indicated that iron ore and coal trading will be moved over to Ennore port, with the available space being converted to new container terminals.
The privately-managed Chennai container terminal handled 885,000 TEUs during 2006-07, an increase of 20.5% from the year before. A second container terminal is currently under construction by PSA-Sical, expected to be operational by October 2008.
"By the time the second terminal reaches one million TEUs by 2012-13, the port will have its third container terminal. New facilities will be ready every five years up to 2027 to touch five million TEUs," Suresh said.
He added that discussions are underway for having a direct shipping service from Chennai port to Europe.
There was also a proposal for South African vessels to call at Chennai. Maersk Line already has a weekly service to the US east coast from Chennai.
Cowan Thant Zin | Mon Aug 13 07:52 GMT 2007