Shoma Patnaik
Panaji
In some good news for the export-import trade in the state, container movement at the Mormugao port in Vasco is set to re-commence after a gap of five years, with the port procuring the much-awaited mobile cranes for efficient cargo handling.
Two mobile cranes arrived at the port a few days ago, with Delta Port Mormugao Terminal Pvt Ltd, the public private partnership (PPP) partner of the port, bringing in the crucial machinery for transporting cargo.
A senior official at Delta Port on Thursday said the two cranes arrived on March 11 and are presently in the process of being unloaded. “The process for setting up the cranes will take another 10 days and will be completed by March 24. The cranes will be commissioned next month,” said the official.
He said that the harbour cranes will be operated from berths 10 and 11, leased to the company for a period of 30 years. The Mormugao port will earn revenue from restarting of the container services.
It may be noted that container traffic at the Mormugao port came to a halt in 2020 due to the breakdown of mobile harbour crane, a versatile machine that can handle cargo containers, bulk material and heavy lifts.
The breakdown affected the export of processed fish, cashew and pharmaceuticals from the state by sea and the products had to be routed by road to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai. The port received flak from the local industrial units for failure to set up the essential infrastructure.
Mobile cranes are used at ports to replace static harbour cranes. They are cost-effective and an eco-efficient mode of cargo transportation.
“The two cranes have been acquired at a total cost of Rs 110 crore,” said the Delta Port official. The company is a 100% subsidiary of the Delta Group, which is involved in providing logistics shipping services.
Mormugao port is aiming at container traffic in a big way once the mobile cranes start functioning. Previously, it handled 38,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit)
of container traffic annually when it had a functioning crane. However, the challenge before the port now is to revive the container ecosystem that has become inactive all these years.
With Goa being an export hub for pharmaceuticals, the Mormugao port is looking at pharma cargo movement through containers.
