VO Chidambaranar Port sets record of unloading 55,105 tonne coal in 24 hours

VO Chidambaranar (VOC) Port, one of the 12 major ports of qthe country, on Friday said it has created a record by unloading 55,105 tonne of coal in 24 hours.

India has 12 major ports -- Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, VOC, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia).

The unloading was done at Berth No 9 from the vessel MV. Theoder Oldendroff' on April 10, surpassing the previous record of 55,020 tonne of coal handled at the same berth from the vessel MV. Agio Sostis' on February 3, 2020, the company said in a statement.

The vessel MV. Theoder Oldendroff consigned from Indonesia was berthed at the port on April 9 and has discharged 73,507 tonne of coal using three harbour mobile cranes capable of discharging 56,000 tonnes per day.

VOC is a crucial link in the coal supply chain for power plants and other major industries in Tamil Nadu. Mostly, coal is being imported through VOC Port from abroad and also through Indian Ports like Dhamra, Haldia and Paradip.

The port has handled 13.26 million tonne of coal during the last financial year and has emerged as a major bulk cargo port in South India.

COVID-19 pandemic has affected all sectors of the world and the port is adhering to all directives given by the government and has adapted its functioning to maintain the productivity levels alongwith scrupulous measures to weed off infections in this extraordinary situation. For several weeks, the Port has been following the SOPs and taken necessary health measures to ensure the safety of our staff and Port users," VOC Port Chairman TK Ramachandran said.