As part of its preparation to handle Panamax vessels in the Inner Harbour, Visakhapatnam Port has decided to acquire two more hi-tech 100-tonne harbour mobile cranes.
Each crane costs around Rs.35 crore. The port is already operating two such cranes in WQ-1, 2 and 3 and three in EQ 8 and 9. Two have been installed at WQ-6 and are expected to be commissioned shortly.
The ultra-modern cranes are built with optimised undercarriage concept to have in-house design control system. “We will acquire two ultra modern cranes on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis for which tenders will be floated shortly,” Visakhapatnam Port Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu told The Hindu.
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The new cranes will be deployed in EQ 5 and WQ 7. The port has 15 electric wharf cranes with capacity ranging from 10 to 20 tonne.
With its ambitious plan for total mechanisation of cargo handling in next two to three years, the port authorities are confident of handling 124 million tonne by 2016-17 with a state-of-the-art environment.
Some of the works in progress include replacing existing EQ berths to cater to 14 meter draft vessels including mechanisation, electrification of railway tracks to coal terminals of BOT projects and developing port connectivity road to NH-16 from two-lane into four-lane road as a joint venture with NHAI.
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Other proposals include developing a Multi Modal Logistic Hub (MMLH) as JV between VPT and Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd, Container Freight Station by a BOT operator in the port area and MMLH being built by CONCOR near the airport. A warehousing hub is also proposed in an area of 500 acres at Valluru near Anakapalli.