Nearly 60 ships wait at Sandheads to enter HDC

KOLKATA: The Sandheads – a stretch of open sea nearly 130 km from Haldia – has started resembling a small township at night. Every day, there are nearly 60 ships anchored there awaiting clearance to approach Haldia Dock Complex (HDC). There is hectic activity at the port facility to clear berths for more ships but officials of the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) aren’t complaining.More ships mean additional cargo for HDC which is passing through a lean phase.
“There is no delay in discharging or loading of cargo in the 12 berths at HDC. We are working overtime to ensure that no ships are detained. Our turn round time has actually improved. The ships anchored at the pilotage station in Sandheads are bringing in additional cargo. Some of them were diverted from other ports like Visakhapatnam,” a senior official at HDC said.
The port of Haldia is actually reaping benefits of Cyclone Hudhud that lashed the coasts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in October, 2014. Ships that were scheduled to call on Visakhapatnam had to be diverted to other ports. Though three months have passed, the cascading effect is continuing. Many of the ships waiting at the Sandheads were diverted due to the cyclone. Most of the ships are carrying iron ore, non-coking coal and limestone.
“Demand for cargo has gone up. Tata Steel and other companies are bringing in more cargo. There is also general cargo that is pouring into Haldia. This is beyond our anticipation. In the past, there used to be times when more than a hundred ships used to wait at the Sandheads to enter HDC. The situation at HDC was much better then. When productivity at Haldia fell, fewer ships called on the port. Ships waiting at the Sandheads are a positive sign. Industry has restored faith on us,” the official added.
In spite of challenges, HDC hopes to handle 30 million tones of cargo by the end of 2014-15. This will be 1.5 million tones more than the cargo handled in 2013-14. Apart from draught constraints, ships entering the confines of HDC have to pass through a lock that can be operated only a number of times every day. The ships also have to be ‘shepherded’ by pilots from the Sandheads to HDC.
“This is a very positive scenario. We are getting more cargo than anticipated and the overall performance will be better. Our people at Haldia are doing their best to accommodate as many ships as possible,” said RPS Kahlon, chairman, KoPT.