DHAMARA PORT INAUGURATED BY CM ODISHA

DHAMARA PORT INAUGURATED BY CM ODISHA 19/12/2011

ODISHA: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday inaugurated the all-weather Dhamara Port near Bhadrak.

Patnaik unveiled a stone plaque on the port jetty and went around to witness unloading operations from 180,000 tonne capacity vessel from Australia that had carried coal and berthed at the port on Saturday.

Among others, secretary, ministry of shipping, K Mohandas, state commerce and transport minister Sanjeeb Kumar Sahoo, tourism and culture minister Prafulla Samal, local MP Arjun Sethi, chief secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik and Chief Executive Officer of the Dhamra Port Company Ltd (DPCL) Santosh Kumar Mohapatra were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said that Dhamara Port would act as a catalyst for the state's infrastructure development and economic prosperity.

Referring to the long history of maritime activities in the area, he said that Dhamara has got back its past glory of the rich maritime trade with the functioning of the second port in the state.

Way back in 1962, the first port was commissioned at Paradip during the tenure of his late father Biju Patnaik.

DPCL CEO DPCL thanked the state government, the district administration and people of Bhadrak district for their support in making the Dhamara Port project a dream come true.

The port was commissioned in a record time and it has adopted all sophisticated and modern technology which makes it one of the most cost-effective and efficient ports in the eastern India, he said.

The Dhamara Port is a 50:50 joint venture project of L&T and Tata Steel.

Its construction of the port had started in 2007, and it commenced commercial operation in May 2011.

Till date, more than 50 ships have berthed at the port jetty with import cargoes of about 2.7 million tonne which included coal and limestone.

In the first phase, the port has built two berths of 350-m-long each and it is equipped for an achievable discharge rate of 600,000 MT per day and loading rate of 1,00,000 MT per day of dry bulk cargos.

The port’s master plan envisages 13 berths, which would handle liquid, dry bulk, break bulk and containerised cargoes.

The port has a deep draft of 17.5 metre, which can handle cape size vessels up to 1,80,000 DWT capacity.

DPCL has built an 18-km channel to connect the port with deep sea and a 62-km fully-electrified rail link to connect the port with the Howrah-Chennai main line for transportation of cargoes.


SIDDHARTHA SHANKAR MISHRA
BUREAU CHIEF, THESE DAYS,
ODISHA