Chennai Port starts handling very large crude oil carries

: Chennai Port Trust today commenced operations of handling very large crude oil carriers that would reduce time and freight charges of state-owned Indian Oil Corporation, a top official said.

CPT Chairman P Raveendran said the very large crude oil tanker M V New Diamond with a Panama flag arrived here from Iraq, marking a significant milestone in the 137-year-old history of the Port.

"It is a very significant milestone for us. We are showcasing that a such a large crude carrier can be handled by us. For IOCL and CPCL (Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd), handling such large ships at Port Trust will reduce time and freight charges by around 30 per cent", he told reporters.

Earlier such large ships had to utilise the services of 'Single Buoy Mooring' (SBM) for supply of crude oil which are located away from the Port, Raveendran said.

The M V Diamond is 333 metres long, has a 60 metre beam with a maximum weight tonnage of 2.99 lakh tons. The crude oil it carried was 1.60 lakh tonnes GRT (Gross Register Tonnage), the chairman said.

"From today, such a large vessel can come into the backwaters of the Port with a depth of 20 metres and supply the oil", he said.

Minister of State for Finance and Shipping, Pon Radhakrishnan said "it was a historic occasion for 137 year old Chennai Port Trust to handle such large oil carriers".

"I wholeheartedly congratulate the Chennai Port Trust Chairman and his team for this achievement. Nowhere in India has this type of ship been handled in a Port. In Kochi or Paradip (Port Trusts), it is done with the SBM, but here it is in the Port itself", he said.

The concept of handling such large crude oil vessels had been under study for more than a year, Raveendran said, adding Chennai Port Trust can handle such large vessels in future.

On the steps taken in case there was an oil spill as such large vessels would now be handled by the Port, he said all necessary equipment had been purchased after the incident in the Bay of Bengal last year.

"We are are well prepared to handle the situation in case of an oil spill like last year's incident", he said.

The oil spill in the Bay of Bengal occurred after two cargo ships collided near the Ennore Port on the wee hours of January 28, 2017.

Nearly 5,700 personnel representing various agencies took part in the clean up operation for 25 days.