Haldia Port
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Haldia Port is a major seaport and industrial city approximately 120km south of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. The port lies near the mouth of one of the tributaries of the Ganges River, known as the Hugli River. The port has four terminals: one dry bulk cargo terminal, one liquid bulk cargo terminal, a container terminal, and a multi-purpose terminal.[1] The dry bulk cargo terminal includes four berths for coking coal and one for thermal coal.[2]
Since 2012, direct coal-handling operations at Haldia Port have been disrupted, with coal being delivered to the port via transloading from larger vessels to smaller ships and barges at Sandheads and Kanika Sands in the Bay of Bengal. Daughter vessels related to these transloading operations continue to be handled exclusively at Haldia Port berths 2 and 8. In 2016, the port announced plans to build two new outer terminals, along with a riverine coal-handling jetty at Outer Terminal I equipped with integrated mechanized systems to handle all types of coal and coke, with construction of the Rs 590-crore project to start in 2017-18.[3][4]
Contents
Project Details
- Operator: Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT)
- Annual Capacity (Tonnes): N/A
- Status: Coal imports indefinitely suspended October 2012
Background
Main imports include coking coal, petroleum and metallurgical coke, soda ash, iron and steel, limestone, machinery, scrap, vegetables, and general cargoes.[5]
Mechanized coal operations at Haldia Port were disrupted indefinitely in October 2012, when Haldia Bulk Terminals (KBT), the company in charge of unloading cargo at Haldia Port's mechanized berths 2 and 8, dismissed all of its employees and announced its intention to abandon the port due to unsafe working conditions.[6] In late 2014, after unsuccessful attempts to lure HBT back to the port or find a new cargo handler to replace HBT, the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), operator of Haldia Port, has resumed its search for a new cargo handler.[7][8][9] In the interim, large vessels carrying imported coal bound for Farakka power station and Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Plant have begun transloading their cargoes to smaller ships and barges at Sandheads and Kanika Sands in the Bay of Bengal for delivery via National Waterway I to the power plants.[10][11][12]
Articles and Resources
Sources
- ↑ "Terminals" Kolkata Port Trust website, accessed February 2018.
- ↑ "Dry Bulk Cargo Terminal" Kolkata Port Trust website, accessed February 2018.
- ↑ "Haldia Dock Complex to spend Rs 100 cr to set up coal jetty by August" United News of India, March 22, 2016.
- ↑ [http://tariffauthority.gov.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/KOPTG349ORDRPASD16082016ALL_1122.pdf "Setting up of Outer Terminal-I"] Tariff Authority for Major Ports, September 16, 2016.
- ↑ "Port of Haldia" World Port Source, accessed October 17, 2011.
- ↑ "Haldia Bulk Terminals sacks 348 more employees" NDTV, November 3, 2012.
- ↑ "KoPT mulls re-tendering to find a replacement for HBT in Haldia" Business Standard, March 4, 2013.
- ↑ "Centre moves to end Haldia Bulk Terminals-Kolkata Port row" LiveMint, September 17, 2014.
- ↑ "Port plan to end Haldia imbroglio" The Telegraph, December 23, 2014.
- ↑ "Haldia dock crisis: NTPC starts transloading coal" The Times of India, October 16, 2012.
- ↑ "Kolkata Port Trust begins operations at Kanika Sands" The Times of India, October 17, 2014.
- ↑ "New transloading system makes coal transport easy" The Hindu, October 20, 2014.
