By July, the Haldia Dock Complex of Kolkata Port Trust will get a floating jetty that will allow barges to unload cargo from larger ships anchored at Sagar Island. The barges will not have to enter the port confines through the lockgate as the jetty will be close to the Outer Terminal – I. This will allow faster operations as the lockgate can’t be operated beyond a certain number of times every day depending upon the tides.By April, floating cranes will be located at Sagar to unload cargo from mother vessels to barges.
“After lighterage, the mother vessels can enter HDC while the barges will unload their cargo at the floating jetty that will have a capacity of 2.5 million tonnes. The system would have been in place by now had we received environmental clearances from the state in time,” said M T Krishna Babu , chairman, KoPT.Due to draught constraints, large vessels with capacity loads cannot enter HDC. Such ships unload part of their cargo (lighterage operations) at ports like Paradip and Dhamra before calling on Haldia.
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