Poor Infrastructure To Hit Kakinada Port

The port has been converted into an all-weather deep water port at a cost of Rs 300 crore, but loading and unloading remains a major problem as there are no proper barges.

Kakinada will be declared a deep water port in October, when three berths being set under its modernisation programme will be ready for use. Asian Development Bank has provided $77.90 million towards the port's development.

At present, loading and unloading of vessels is done by wooden barges of 70 -200 tonnes capacity. Since these boats are deep drafted, they can sail in and out of the port only during high tide, resulting in delay and stagnation of cargo movement.

 

Shippers also have to pay unnecessary demurrage charges to ship owners and water leakage into the holds damage the cargo.

Last November, rice exporters suffered heavy losses when they loaded their cargo in Kakinada. Because of the slow loading rate in wooden boats, some 200,000 tonnes of rice valued at over Rs 200 crore could not be shipped in time.

Kakinada Port Exporters' Association said the exporters lost Rs 1 crore per day in terms of vessel demmurages, godown costs, interest, cargo deterioration. Most exporters and importers avoid Kakinada port and sometimes route their cargoes through other anchorage ports on the west coast.

Port authorities said attempts to introduce steel barges for the last two years have not succeeded due to resistance from wooden boat operators. Director of state ports D Srinivasulu said he had held several meetings with wooden boat operators to persuade them to switch over to steel barges. As a result, 14 cargo boat owners, eight shippers and 22 port users have been permitted to construct steel barges. So far only five barges