Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT), whose growth trajectory is on the rise, showcased growth for the fourth year in a row by achieving the third position among the Major Ports in cargo traffic during April to July 2019. In the last financial year, its position was fourth. The cargo traffic it handled from April to July 2019 is at 23.7 million tonnes, while it was 21.52 million tonnes in the same period last year. VPT has registered a growth rate over 10 per cent which is the highest among the Major Ports, said a release.
Mr Rinkesh Roy, VPT Chairman, congratulated the port team, PPP operators, stevedores, shipping agents and stakeholders for the achievement and their commitment to strive towards excellence. He promised that the port will continue the buoyancy and will put its best to retain the position by the end of the year and aim to reach the mark of 70 million tonnes soon. Cargoes like iron ore, pellets, coking coal, crude oil and petroleum products, along with continuous increasing in container traffic handled by Visakha Container Terminal (VCT) were the key contributors to the overall growth of VPT. VCT, the only established container terminal at Visakhapatnam, has also showcased continuous growth rate, registering 16 per cent growth last fiscal and is inching towards the mark of 0.5 million TEUs this year, said a release.
Infrastructure development in the last 2 years has played a pivotal role in faster cargo evacuation, that gave room for more cargo handling. Major projects commissioned were 3 berths in the inner harbour with Panamax capability (WQ 7, WQ 8, EQ 2 to 5), work on the development of additional oil handling facility OR – 3, along with OR – 1 and OR – 2 are progressing. One mobile harbour crane of 100-t capacity is being installed on licence basis and RFID gate management system has been introduced and implemented. The regular liaison with the Railways for allotment of adequate rakes has also played a key role in achieving faster turnaround time.
In line with the upgraded infrastructure of VPT, VCT, too, is going for expansion by doubling its current capacity because of the continuous container traffic increase. Given the huge potential in the hinterland of Visakhapatnam, more cargo traffic is envisaged, which is primarily going to be container movement, the release added.
