The Offshore Tanker Terminal (OSTT) of the Visakhapatnam Port Trust, which was severely damaged in the severe cyclonic storm Hudhud that hit the city in October 2014, is getting ready to handle crude-laden ships with 1.50 lakh deadweight tonnes within a month.
The task appeared forbidding in the beginning with initial estimates for rebuilding the hydraulic equipment coming to around ₹100 crore to ₹120 crore, but the port authorities by consulting experts, accomplished it with just ₹24 crore.
“We are very happy that we have completed repair works to re-launch the operations at OSTT in the next few days,” Visakhapatnam Port Deputy Chairman P.L. Haranadh told The Hindu on Tuesday.
Expert advice
Experts of IIT-Chennai offered their expertise and the task of repairing the facilities was carried out by Shell Refractories and Khargil.
The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd will be the major beneficiary. After the OSTT got damaged, HPCL has to depend fully on crude discharge through pipeline to its Visakh Refinery through Single Point Mooring (SPM).
SPM can receive Very Large Crude Carriers 20 km off the coast, where there is less tranquillity, and pump the crude to the refinery. The SPM has a capacity to handle 10 million tonnes per annum.
With the revival of OSTT, even small vessels carrying crude can be handled near the shore where the currents are not that powerful.
Modernisation plans
HPCL is now implementing Visakh Refinery Modernisation Project to expand the refining capacity from 8.33 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes per annum with an investment of ₹20,928 crore. Touted as the largest Brownfield project investment in Andhra Pradesh post-bifurcation, it will be completed in 2020 to produce Bharat Stage-VI fuel. Visakhapatnam is also the home to India’s first rock cavern to store crude for evacuation in the event of an emergency like war or calamity causing dislocation in supplies.
Besides some private storage facilities, the city also has the country’s first underground storage cavern owned by South Asia LPG Company with a capacity of 60,000 tonnes.
