Chennai Port

Chennai Port
Chennai Port
Location
India

Country
Location

Coordinates

Chennai (Madras)
130504N 801724E /

13.08441N 80.2899ECoordinates:

130504N 801724E /
13.08441N 80.2899E
Details

Opened
Operated by
Owned by

1881
Chennai Port Trust
Chennai Port Trust, Ministry of Shipping,
Government of India

Type of harbor Coastal breakwater, artificial, large seaport

Size of harbor 169.97 ha (420.0 acres)
Land area
Size

237.54 ha (587.0 acres)

407.51 ha (1,007.0 acres)

Available berths 26
Employees

8,000 (2004)[1]

Chairman

Atulya Mishra (since 2010)

Automobiles, motorcycles and general
industrial cargo including iron ore, granite,
coal, fertilizers, petroleum products, and

Main trades

containers
Major exports: Iron ore, leather, cotton
textiles
Major imports: Wheat, raw cotton,
machinery, iron & steel

World Port
Index Number

49450[2]

UN/LOCODE INMAA

Statistics
Annual cargo
tonnage

61.46 million (2010-2011)

Annual
container

1.523 million TEUs (2010-2011)

volume
8,904.0 million (2007-08)[3]

Annual revenue

Vessels handled 2,181 (2010-2011)

Capacity
Website

Cargoes: 55.75 million tonnes (2008-09)[4]

Containers: 2 million TEUs[5]
www.chennaiport.gov.in

Chennai Port from the air

Chennai Port, formerly known as Madras Port, is the second largest port of India, behind
the Mumbai Port, and the largest port in the Bay of Bengal. Being the third oldest port among
the 12 major ports of India, it is over 125 years old, although maritime trade started way back
in 1639 on the sea shore. It is an artificial and all-weather port with wet docks. It was a major
travel port before becoming a major container port. It is a substantial reason for the economic
growth of Tamil Nadu, especially for the manufacturing boom in South India, and has
contributed in no small measure to the development of the city. It is due of the existence of
the port that the city of Chennai became known as the Gateway of South India. The port with
3 docks, 24 berths and draft ranging from 12 to 16.5 m (39 to 54.1 ft) has become a hub port
for containers, cars and project cargo in the east coast of India. From handling a meagre
volume of cargo in the early years, consisting chiefly of imports of oil and motors and the
export of groundnuts, granite and ores, the port has moved towards handling 60 million
tonnes of cargo in recent years. An ISO 14001:2004 and ISPS-certified port, its container
traffic crossed 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for the first time in 2008. It is
currently ranked the 86th largest container port in the world and is expanding in the coming
years with the capacity going up to 140 million tonnes per annum.[6][7] Chennai Port has been
transformed into a main line port having direct connectivity to 50+ ports.

Contents
[hide]

1 History
2 Location and geography
3 Traffic growth
4 Port layout and infrastructure
5 Terminals
o 5.1 Container terminals
o 5.2 Ro-ro car terminal

5.3 Cruise terminal

6 Operations
7 Auxiliary functions
o 7.1 Meteorological functions
o 7.2 Disease control
8 Connectivity
o 8.1 Extra-port connectivity
o 8.2 Intra-port connectivity
o 8.3 Pipelines
9 Natural disasters
10 Lights and lighthouses
11 The future
12 Sister ports
13 See also
14 References
15 External links
o

[edit] History
Before 1800s
Although the settlement of Madras did not form until after the mid-17th century, the region
surrounding the present-day port remained an important centre for military, administrative,
and economic activities since the 1st century AD under various South Indian dynasties,
namely, the Pallava, the Pandya, the Chola, and the Vijayanagara empires.[8] Chief among
them was the Pallava dynasty, which reigned from the 6th to 9th centuries AD. The ancient
town of Mylapore, known to Roman traders as "Meliapor", was an important port of the
Pallavas and is now part of Chennai.
The region also attracted many distant civilisations, with the Christian apostle St. Thomas
having preached in the area between 52 and 70 AD.[9][10][11][12] In 1522, the Portuguese built the
So Tom harbour, named after St. Thomas, on the site of today's port and the So Tom
church on the grave of Saint Thomas. The following years saw the arrival of other Europeans,
namely, the Dutch arriving at Pulicat in 1613 and the British arriving in 1639. In 1639, the
British East India Company bought a three-mile long strip of land lying along the coast
between the Cooum delta and the Egmore River encompassing an area of about five square
kilometres from the Vijayanagara King Peda Venkata Rayalu.[13] Soon obtaining permission
from the regional ruler, Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu, the British built a warehouse and
factory on the site, and in 1940, the British expanded the occupation by building the Fort St.
George and establishing a colony on the site of the future port of Madras.[14]
In 1746, under the leadership of Admiral La Bourdonnais, French forces captured and
plundered Madras, the fort and surrounding villages. However, they returned the town along
with the port to the British under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748.[15][16] The British then
strengthened the fort to defend the port not only from the French but also from the
increasingly powerful Sultan of Mysore and other regional rulers.[17]
The British era
Oil tanks on fire in the Madras Harbour following the bombardment by German light cruiser
Emden on 22 September 1914

By the late 18th century, most of the southern region of India had been conquered by the
British and Madras was established as the capital of the Madras Presidency.[18] During this
period, the port flourished under British rule, becoming an important naval base and urban
center. A port at Madras was first suggested by Warren Hastings in 1770 when he was posted
here, who later became the first Governor General of India.[19] However, it was not until the
1850s that work began on a pier to berth vessels following suggestions from the Madras
Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Till 1815, it was an open roadstead and exposed sandy
coast, swept by occasional storms and monsoons. At the time, the natural harbor was so
shallow that ships had to anchor over 1 km (0.62 mi) offshore, and cargo was delivered to and
from the shore in masula boats[20][21] and catamarans.[22] Cargo losses were high, and a 335 m
(1,099 ft) iron-screw pile pier capable of berthing larger vessels was built perpendicular to the
shore in 1861.[23] However, the storms of 1868 and 1872 made the initial piers inoperative. So
the masonry work for L-shaped breakwaters was started in 1876. In 1877, construction of the
south pier was commenced with stones brought from Pallavaram, and the port started
handling ships inside the harbour from 1881. However, again the storm of 12 November 1881
completely washed the almost-completed harbour, breaching over half a mile of breakwater.
[23]
An artificial harbour was then built and the operations were started in 1881, and the pier
was rebuilt in 1885, although there was a demand for relocating the entrance. Work on the
harbour was completed in 1911.[19] The Chennai Port Trust has taken the year 1881, the year
of rebuilding, as the starting year. The cargo operations were carried out on the northern pier,
located on the northeastern side of Fort St. George in Chennai. In the first couple of years the
port registered traffic of 300,000 tonnes of cargo handling 600 ships. The first railway line in
South India was laid between Madras and Arcot which started operating in 1856. By the late
19th century, the port was well connected to the other two important cities in the British
colony, viz. Bombay (Mumbai) and Calcutta (Kolkata).[24] In 1904, a new northeastern
entrance was added to control siltation in the basin, after closing the original eastern entrance.
The port's quays (berths) were constructed at different periodsthe South Quay I in 1913,
the five west quay berths between 1916 and 1920, the north quay in 1931 and the South Quay
II in 1936, in the Inner Harbour, later christened Dr. Ambedkar Dock.[23] Chennai was the
only Indian city to be attacked by the Central Powers during World War I[25] when a German
cruiser, SMS Emden, shelled the oil depot within the port belonging to the Burmah Oil
Company and raided vessels in 1914 disrupting trade, resulting in the death of at least 5
sailors. The port was also the only operational one in eastern waters during the Second World
War.[22] In 1911, the Royal Madras Yacht Club (RMYC), which is based within the Chennai
Port premises, was founded by Sir Francis Joseph Edward Spring, the first chairman on the
Madras Port Trust who was responsible for Chennai becoming a trading hub, especially
during World War II.[19][22] In 1916, the harbour office building was constructed.[23]

A plaque near Madras High Court

From 1905 to 1919, major improvements took place in the port under the stewardship of the
visionary Sir Francis Spring. Being an artificial harbour, the port was vulnerable to cyclones
and accretion of sand inside the basin due to underwater currents, which reduced the draft. To

charter the course of the port development, Sir Francis Spring, who assumed charge as the
chief engineer of the port in 1906, drew a long-term plan in a scientific manner to overcome
challenges, both artificial and natural. The shifting of the entrance of the port from eastern
side to the northeastern side protected the port to a large extent from the natural
vulnerabilities. By the end of 1920, the port had a dock consisting of four berths in the west
quays, one each in the east and south quay along with the transit sheds, warehouses and a
marshalling yard to facilitate the transfer of cargo from land to sea and vice versa. In 1929,
the Mercantile Marine Department, which was working directly under the Ministry of
Shipping till the establishment of the Directorate General of Shipping at Mumbai in 1949,
was established to implement the first SOLAS and Load Line conventions.[26] Additional
berths were added in the 1940s with a berth at south quay and another between WQ2 and
WQ3. The year 1946 saw the establishment of the Port Health Organisation.[27] In 1947, when
India gained independence, Chennai became the capital of the Madras State, renamed as
Tamil Nadu in 1969.
Post-Independence
Post-Independence, the development of the port gained momentum. In 1959, a passenger
station on the first floor of the transit shed at north quay was commissioned. In 1961,
construction of signal station at north quay was completed.[23] In the same year, the port's
Jawahar Dock was inaugurated by the then prime minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri. In
1964, the Jawahar dock with capacity to berth 6 vessels to handle dry bulk cargoes such as
coal, iron ore, fertilizer and non-hazardous liquid cargoes was created on the southern side
changing the topography of the port. To handle vessels with as much as 16.2 m (53 ft) draft,
the port developed the outer harbour, named Bharathi Dock, for handling petroleum in 1972
and for mechanized handling of iron ore in 1974. In 1972, the first oil jetty was constructed at
Bharathi Dock-I capable of handling tankers up to 100,000 DWT to handle imports of crude
oil destined for the Manali Oil Refinery (later named the Chennai Petroleum Corporation
Limited).[28] In 1974, the iron ore berth was added to the port for exports to Japan and other
countries in the Far East. The second oil jetty was added at Bharathi Dock-III in 1986 capable
of handling tankers up to 140,000 DWT to meet increasing demands for crude oil and
petroleum products.[28] The iron ore terminal is equipped with mechanized ore-handling plant
commissioned in 1977 at Bharathi Dock-II capable of handling ore carriers of maximum size
1,45,000 DWT, one of the three such facility in the country, with a capacity of handling 8
million tonnes and a loading rate of 6,000 tonnes per hour.[28] The port's share of iron ore
export from India is 12 per cent. The dedicated facility for oil led to the development of oil
refinery in the hinterland. This oil terminal is capable of handling Suezmax vessels.
In the 1970s, containerisation started in India in a limited way with the creation of interim
container handling facilities at Mumbai and Cochin ports in 1973.[4] During the same period,
Chennai Port began handling containerized cargoes. In 1983, a container terminal was built at
the Bharathi Dock with a 380-metre (1,250 ft) quay, a 51,000-square-metre (550,000 sq ft)
container yard, and a 6,000-square-metre (65,000 sq ft) container freight station, which was
commissioned by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi on 18 December 1983 as the
country's first dedicated container terminal facility. The terminal was provided with towshore cranes and other shore facilities. In 1991, the port's container terminal quay was
lengthened by 220 m (720 ft) with two additional tow shore cranes. In November 2001, the
container terminal and back-up area was privatized through a 30-year concession with
Chennai Container Terminal Private Limited. Continually increasing container traffic resulted
in another 285-metre (935 ft) extension of the quay in 2002, bringing the total berth length to
885-metre (2,904 ft).[29] During 2008-09, the port recorded a 17.2% share of container traffic
in India. Having the capability of handling fourth-generation vessels, the terminal is ranked
among the top 100 container ports in the world.[30] To meet the demand in container handling,

the port is added with the second container terminal with a capacity to handle 1.5 million
TEUs. The port is also planning a mega container terminal, capable of handling 4 million
TEUs per annum expected to be operational from 2013, when the first phase of the project
will be completed. The full project will be completed by 2017.[31]
When the city of Madras was renamed as Chennai in 1996, the Madras Port Trust followed
suit and was renamed as Chennai Port Trust. In 2000, the port began to handle pure-carcarrier shipments of automobiles. In 2003, the 200 m naval berth was given for 30-year lease.
[23]
The 2004 tsunami devastated the shores of the port, taking many lives and permanently
altering the coastline.

[edit] Location and geography

Main article: Geography of Chennai
Chennai Port lies on a flat coastal plain known as the Eastern Coastal Plains on the east coast
Height (m)[32]

Tide
Highest high water
Mean high water spring
Mean high water neap
Mean sea level
Mean low water neap
Mean low water spring
Mean spring range
Mean neap range

1.50
1.10
0.80
0.54
0.40
0.10
1.00
0.40

of the Indian peninsula known as the Coromandel Coast in the Bay of Bengal. The port is
situated on the thermal equator and is also coastal, which prevents extreme variation in
seasonal temperature. The climate is tropical, specifically tropical wet and dry, and for most
of the year, the weather is hot and humid, with temperatures ranging from a maximum of
42C in May to a minimum of 18C in January. The port gets most of its seasonal rainfall
from the northeast monsoon winds, from mid-September to mid-December. Occasionally,
cyclones in the Bay of Bengal hit the coast. The annual rainfall in the region is about
1250 mm, and the spring tides are up to 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in). The mean tidal range varies from
0.914 m to 1.219 m at spring and from 0.805 m to 0.610 m at neap tides.[33] The change in
water levels combined due to astronomical tide, wind setup, wave setup, barometric pressure,
seiches and global sea level rise are estimated as 1.57 m, 1.68 m and 1.8 m at 15 m, 10 m and
5 m depth contours, respectively.[32]
The most prevailing winds in the region are the southwesterly between April and October[34]
and the northeasterly during the rest of the year. Situated on a coast that constitutes chiefly of
sandy shelving breaker-swept beaches, the region surrounding the port falls under Seismic
Zone III indicating a moderate risk of earthquake. The port was developed into the sea by
reclaiming land as there is no sheltered harbour. The depth of the draft is up to 17 m, and the
soil in the entrance channel is predominantly sandy and silt. The port is bordered by the
Cooum delta in the south and Royapuram fishing harbour in the north.
Historically, the port was responsible for the shoreline changes in the region, where the area
south of the port has accreted significantly, resulting in the formation of the Marina Beach,
whereas the coast in the northern region has undergone severe erosion.[35][36] Ever since the
harbour was constructed, the coast north of the harbour has been experiencing erosion at the
rate of about 8 m annually. The shoreline has recessed by about 1,000 m with respect to the
original shoreline in 1876. It is estimated that 500 m of beach has been lost between 1876 and
1975 and another 200 m between 1978 and 1995. About 350 ha land in the coast north of the

port is lost into sea.[32] On the other hand, the area south of the port is increasing 40 sq m
every year due to the progradation.[36]

[edit] Traffic growth

From 1881 to 1945, the cargo handled in Madras port varied from 0.5 million tonnes to 1
Cargo
(million tonnes)[37]

Year
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11

36.1
33.6
36.71
43.81
47.25
53.41
57.15
57.49
61.06
61.46

million tonnes. By 1979-80, the traffic touched 10 million tonnes and increased to 15 million
tonnes in 1984-85. By 1991-92, the volume was 25 million tonnes, touching 41 million
tonnes in 2000-01. Though there was a slump in the next three years, mainly due to the
transfer of about 9 million tonnes of thermal coal to the Ennore port,[38] the port recovered to
handle 47.25 million tonnes in 2005-06. In 2009-10, the port handled 61.06 million tonnes of
cargo against 57.49 million tonnes in 2008-09 marking an increase of 6.20 per cent and has
set a target to handle 75 million tonnes in 2011-12 and 100 million tonnes in 2015-16. In
2010-11, the port handled 61.46 million tonnes, a 0.66 per cent increase over the previous
fiscal.[39] The target set for the port for 2010-11 is 65.51 million tonnes against a target of
64.00 million tonnes during the previous fiscal.[40] The terminal's throughput has increased
from around 829,000 TEUs in 2006 to around 1.19 million TEUs in 2008.[41] Crane
productivity has been improved from 22 moves per hour per quay crane in 2006 to over 27 in
2009.[42] The port annually handles nearly 20 million tonnes of both coal (8 million tonnes)
and iron ore (12 million tonnes).[43]
During 2009-10, the container traffic from the first terminal reached 1.216 million TEUs
against 1.14 million TEUs in the previous fiscal. In 2010-11, this increased to 1.523 million
TEUs, a 25 per cent growth over the previous year. The second terminal handled over
300,000 TEUs during the calendar year 2010up from 26,000 TEUs handled in the 3
months of operations since start up in 2009.[44] The car exports from this port touched 273,917
units in 2009-10, 10.14 per cent more than the previous year's 248,697 units, despite the
recession.
The annual growth for container volumes handled by the Chennai port during the last 5 years
till 2009-10 was 13 to 14 per cent, while the average annual container growth in Indian ports
is in the order of 8%. The growth increased to 25 per cent during 2010-11, the largest growth
rate among the top three container ports comprising JNPT, Chennai and Tuticorin.[45] This is
primarily due to capacity addition with the second terminal commencing operations coupled
with new services starting to call the Chennai port.
The port currently has the capacity to handle 3,000,000 TEUs and with the commissioning of
the third mega container terminal being planned, the capacity would go up to 8,000,000
TEUs.
Due to excessive pollution from coal dust, the port for a brief period of time suspended
shipping food grain. However, following the transfer of coal shipments to the neighbouring

Ennore Port since 2002, handling of food grain was resumed after about 9 years in 2003. The
port hopes to handle 4 million tonnes of food grain annually over the next few years.[46]
The following table lists the number of vessels handled in the past:[47]
Commodity
Liquid bulk
Dry bulk
Break bulk
Containers
Total

2008-09
441
441
486
710
2,078

2009-10

2010-11

494
446
489
703
2,132

502
308
559
812
2,181

A panoramic view of the container terminal at the port

[edit] Port layout and infrastructure

Chennai port was the second smallest in the country measured by surface area, encompassing
only 274 hectares.[48] Chennai port area is divided into north, central and south zones and
fishing harbours.[49] The port has 26 alongside berths, including 21 deep-drafted berths and 2
oil jetties, in the 3 docks, viz., Dr. Ambedkar Dock, Satabt Jawahar Dock, and Bharathi Dock
along with the container terminal, and draft ranging from 1216.5 m (3954.1 ft). Dr.
Ambedkar Dock has 12 berths, Jawahar Dock has 6 berths, Bharathi Dock has 3 berths (for
oil and iron ore), the container terminal has 3 berths and the moorings has 1 berth. The berths
can handle containers as well as liquid and dry bulk and breakbulk cargoes. The approach
channel to the port is 6,700 m (22,000 ft) long, and the turning basin is 560 m (1,840 ft) in
length.[50] A total of 9 well-lit channels marks buoys for the approach channel.
Region
Inner harbour
Outer harbour
Total

Water spread
218 acres
200 acres
418 acres

Land area
413 acres
100 acres
513 acres

No. of berths
16
7
23

The Jawahar Dock has six berths with a total length of 1,310 m (4,300 ft) and maximum
permissible draft of 10.4 m (34 ft) and 11 m (36 ft). All berths are 218.3 m (716 ft), and half
of them have maximum draft of 10.4 m (34 ft). The dock mainly handles coal, fertilizer, iron
ore lumps, pellets, edible oil, and phosperic acid. The Dr. Ambedkar Dock has 13 berths with
a total length of 1,676 m (5,499 ft) and maximum permissible drafts from 8.512 m (2839
ft). The longest berth is 246 m (807 ft) long with maximum draft of 9.5 m (31 ft). Berth No. 7
is 198 m (650 ft) long with maximum draft of 8.5 m (28 ft), whereas Berths 8, through 12 are
each 170.6 m (560 ft) and have maximum draft of 11 m (36 ft). Berth 14 is 179 m (587 ft)
long with maximum draft of 9.5 m (31 ft). Berths 18 and 19 are naval berths. The dock has
car and cruise terminals and chiefly handles general cargo, cars, granite steel, and food
grains. The Bharathi Dock contains three berths with total quay length of 917.2 m (3,009 ft),
with berths ranging from 274.3 m (900 ft) in length with maximum permissible draft of 16.5
to 338.9 m (54 to 1,112 ft) in length with maximum draft of 14.6 m (48 ft). The dock has

three terminals, namely, container terminal, iron ore terminal, and oil terminal. It mainly
handles containers, iron ore, and POL (petroleum, oil and lubricants).[23]

Dock/Terminal No.

Jawahar Dock

Dr. Ambedkar
Dock

Name of
berth

Type

JD-1

Food grains/general 218.33 11.50

JD-3

Food grains/general 218.33 11.50

JD-5

Food grains/general 218.33 11.50

JD-2

5
6

JD-4
JD-6

Coal/other liquid
bulk
Coal
Other ores/coal

NQ

Passenger/general

WQ-1

WQ-2

Container
Terminal

Approach
Channel

218.33 11.00
218.33 11.00
198.00 8.50

General

170.60 12.00

11 WQ-3

General

170.60 12.00

12 WQ-4

Fertilizer/general

170.60 11.00

SQ-1
Fertilizer/general
SQ-2
Fertilizer/general
2nd CT-1
2nd CT-2
2nd CT-3
Naval Berth
18
North
Naval Berth
19
South

246.00
179.00
----

9.50
9.50
12.0
12.0
12.0

60.00

09.00

20 BD-1

Oil

338.94 14.0

21 BD-3

Oil

304.00 16.50

22 BD-2

Iron ore

274.32 16.50

23 CT-1

Containers

200.00 13.40

24 CT-2

Containers

200.00 13.40

25 CT-3
26 CT-4

Containers
Containers

200.00 13.40
285.00 13.40

Zone II to
Zone VII
Turning
Circle

12.0 m on HW
subject to
the vessel reducing
the draft
to permissible draft
of
the berth below low
tide.
Transit shed
attached
Transit shed
attached
Transit shed
attached

218.33 11.50

10 CB

Zone I

Remarks

General/other liquid
170.60 11.00
bulk
General
170.60 12.00

13
14
15
16
17

Bharathi Dock
(oil & iron ore)

Length Permissible
(m)
draft (m)

Transit shed
attached
11 m up to 795 m;
9.5 m up to 810 m

140.00 12.00

750.00
5950.00
560.00

17.0 m during HW;

Between extreme
dolphins
Container freight
station
Container freight
station

The oil terminals at the port's Bharathi Dock (BD1 and BD3) can accommodate tankers to
100,000 dead weight tonnage (DWT), and a third berth can handle tankers up to 280.4 m
(920 ft) and 140,000 DWT. Berth BD1 can accommodate ships to 108.1 m (355 ft) long. The
oil terminals have capacity to handle 12 million tons of cargo per year and to pump 3,000
tons of crude oil and 1,000 tons of petroleum products per hour. Each berth is equipped with
five marine loading arms, and the berths have pipelines to convey crude oil, white oil, and
furnace oil.
The port handles Suezmax tankers of up to a draft of 17 m at BD3 during day light, high tide
as the per the present navigational practice and also during night hours subject to fulfilment
of safety considertions on a ship-to-ship basis.
The iron ore terminal, which can handle 6 million tons per year and can load iron ore at a rate
of 6,000 tons per hour, is also located at the Bharathi Dock. Berth BD2 can accommodate ore
carriers up to 280.4 m (920 ft) in length. The terminal's separate receiving and shipping lines
can function as an interconnected system. The terminal is served by rail lines and includes an
ore stock yard with capacity for 544,000 metric tons.[51]
The container terminal has four berths with a total quay length of 885 m (2,904 ft) and
maximum permissible draft of 13.4 m (44 ft). With capacity to handle fifth-generation
container vessels, three of the four berths are 200 m (660 ft) long, and one is 285 m (935 ft)
long. The berths are served by seven quay cranes, including five super-post-Panamax and two
post-Panamax cranes, and 24 gantry cranes. Operated by Chennai Container Terminal Private
Limited, the container terminal has capacity for 950,000 TEUs. The container yard has 3,960
ground slots and 240 reefer plug points. The terminal contains 24 container freight stations
with warehouse storage and offers 24-hr customs inspection and clearance facilities. The
container terminal has direct services to Europe, China, the United States, Korea, Thailand,
the Mediterranean region, and West Africa.[52]
The warehousing and storage capacity available at the port is as follows:[53]
Type
Covered
Warehouses
Transit sheds
Covered area for FCI
Container freight stations
Open
Open space
Container parking area

Nos.
12
8
6
2

Area (sq.m)
65,686
36,000
43,450
12,600
3,25,000
1,30,000

The port handles a variety of cargo including iron ore, coal, granite, fertilizers, petroleum
products, containers, automobiles and several other types of general cargo items. Due to the
increase in container traffic, a second container terminal was planned and tender works given
to PSA Sical.[54] It has asked for support for a mega container terminal. The terminal would be
the first deep-water terminal of its kind in India and would be able to handle ultra-large
container ships of 13,000-15,000 TEUs capacity and length exceeding 400 m (1,300 ft).[55]
The management of the container terminal was taken over by P&O Ports of Australia. This
has a volume growth of 20 per cent per year and has 59 per cent of the market share of South
India. It has services to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Korea, China,
Mediterranean, Europe, Australia and the United States.
The port has a current depth of 17 m (56 ft) and is capable of handling fourth-generation
vessels up to 150,000 DWT.[35] It is going through an expansion and will have a depth of 18
22 m (5972 ft), a continuous quay length of 2 km (1.2 mi) and back-up area of around
100 ha (250 acres). Two new breakwaters for a total length of 4 km (2.5 mi) will be

constructed one as extension of the existing outer arm and the other extending from the
fishing harbor breakwater. The consequent silting will reclaim about 300 ha (740 acres) of
land. The mega terminal will be built on a 100-hectare (250-acre) portion of this land.[56] The
terminal will have a continuous quay length of 2 km (1.2 mi) with 1822 m (5972 ft) side
along draft, capable of handling ultra-large container ships carrying over 15,000 TEUs. This
will help it handle the latest generation vessels. Though the port is largely a container port, it
has strategic importance as 3 service berths are allotted to the Indian Navy.
The approach channel to the port has two sectionsthe entrance channel within the
protection of outer arm and the outer channel beyond the protection of outer arm. The total
length of the entrance channel is 7 km. The width of channel gradually increased from 244 m
to 419 m at the bent portion, then maintains a constant width of 305 m. The depth of the inner
and the outer channels are 18.6 m and 19.2 m, respectively, below chart datum, with a swell
allowances of 3 m.[57] The entrance is 350 m in Bharathi Dock and 125 m in Dr. Ambedkar
Dock. The draught in the navigational channel is maintained by dredging approximately 1
million cubic metres annually.[35]

[edit] Terminals
[edit] Container terminals
The port has two container terminals, run separately by DP World Pvt. Ltd and Singapore's
PSA International Pte Ltd, with a combined capacity to handle 2.8 million standard
containers a year. The two terminals loaded 1.11 million standard containers between April
and December 2010, up from 886,000 containers a year earlier. Both the terminals have daily
trains to Inland Container Depots (ICDs). There are plans to build a mega container terminal,
the third one at the port, with private funds worth
36,860 million.[58][59][60] The port is
served by various container liner services, namely, APL, K Line, Maersk Line, MOL, NYK,
PIL and several regional container lines.[61]
Chennai Container Terminal
Chennai Container Terminal (CCT) is the first container terminal in Chennai port built in
1983. The container terminal was privatized in 2001 and is operated by DP World since 30
November 2001 with a capacity of 1.2 million TEUs. CCT is managed under a 30 year buildoperate-transfer agreement set up with the Chennai Port Trust of the Government of India.
The terminal is capable of handling fifth generation vessels up to 6,400 TEU and has direct
services to China, West Africa, Europe and the United States. The terminal crossed the "one
million TEU" mark in 2007.[62] In 2011, it handled 1.12 million TEUs.[63] It enjoys a quay
length of 885 m (2,904 ft) and has 4 berths with an alongside depth of 13.4 m (44 ft), height
(ISLW to Top of Cope) of 34 m (112 ft), channel length of 6,700 m (22,000 ft) and channel
depth of 19.2 m (63 ft). The total terminal area covers 21.1 hectares, and yard stacking area
covers 17 hectares (42 acres). The terminal has an on-site rail track.[33] It has a berth
productivity of 22 moves per hour and an average turnaround of 26 hours. The operator has
invested around US$128 million to get new equipment at the terminal. At present, 7 quay
cranes with Super Post Panamax handling capacity and 24 rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs)
form part of the inventory. The operator has also taken over from Chennai Port 4 quay cranes,
10 RTGs, 3 reach stackers, 240 reefer plugs, and 2 top lifters and one empty container
handler.[64] CCT is ranked at the 79th position among the top 100 container terminals in the
world.[65] It is one of the fastest growing terminals in India with a CAGR of 20 per cent.[65] It
presently has four mainline services with direct connectivity to Mediterranean, Europe,
Thailand, Vietnam, China and Korea. The mainline services are complemented by seven
weekly feeder services and one coastal service to Colombo, Vizag, Penang, Port Klang,
Singapore, Yangon and Port Blair, respectively. Presently, CCT is connected to 50+ ports

worldwide.[65] A container freight station, with a covered area of 6,500 m2 (70,000 sq ft),
operates within the port offering such services as inspection, LCL de-stuffing and delivery of
import cargo. CCT has plans to invest
1 billion to install two quay cranes.[66]
Chennai International Terminal

Chennai International Container Terminal view from the Marina Beach

Chennai International Terminal Pvt Ltd (CITPL) is the second container terminal that started
operations from June 22, 2009 with berths SCB1, SCB2 and SCB3. The build-operatetransfer facility, built at a cost of about US$110 million, is a joint venture between PSA
International and Chennai-based Sical Logistics Ltd.[67] With 35 ha (86 acres) of yard space
and three berths with a total quay length of 832 m (2,730 ft), the terminal offers an annual
capacity of 1.5 million TEUs. With the addition of 4 post-Panamax quay cranes, capable of
lifting two 20-ft containers per move, and 8 RTGs, it now has 7 rail-mounted quay crane
(RMQC), 18 RTGs, 6 reach stacker and 120 reefer plugs.[68][69] Once fully commissioned,
CITPL would be able to accommodate 8,000-TEU vessels with drafts up to 15.5 m (51 ft).[70]
[71]

[edit] Ro-ro car terminal

Dubbed the Detroit of Asia, Chennai is base to several international car makers, namely, Ford
Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co., Renault SA, Daimler AG and BMW AG.
[72]
Car export (mainly Hyundai) increased by 80.25 per cent to touch 2,48,697 during 200809 as against 1,37,971 in the previous year. The port handled 65 car carriers compared with
40 in the previous year. In 2009, the port shipped nearly 274,000 cars, 10 per cent more than
the previous year.[30] The port is now the number one ro-ro car terminal in the country. After
Hyundai, the port have started attracting global manufacturers like Mahindra, Toyota, and
Ford. Ford has decided to move exports to Chennai Port by 2010.[73]
Hyundai Motor India is coming up with a first-of-its-kind dedicated automobile terminal at
the Chennai port. The Chennai port facility is expected to be on the lines of its Ulsan Port,
from where it exports half of Korea's 1,500,000 vehicles annually. The export terminal at the
Chennai port would cater to its total export target of 300,000 cars, which would be 50 per
cent of its total production by 2009-10. The company has plans to develop the land into a
dedicated terminal to serve as an export base. It is believed that the terminal would basically
cater to its export of compact cars from India. The new terminal, coming up at the southern
end of the container terminal, would be spread over 10,000 m2 (110,000 sq ft) of land and
includes a 300 m long, 30 m wide, and 12 m deep ro-ro berth. It would have two six-storey
multi-level dedicated parking yard for 6,000 cars each, estimated at a cost of
400
million, where one ship load of cars can be stacked.[74] The terminal, being developed at a
cost of
800 million, would cater to other car exporters also[75] and is expected to be
completed by the end of 2012.

[edit] Cruise terminal

Chennai Port is one of the five major ports in the country that have been identified by the
Ministry of Shipping for development of cruise terminals, the other four being Goa, Cochin,
Mumbai and Mangalore.[76] The port has a passenger cruise terminal in the West Quay. On an
average, seven to eight cruise vessels dock in the port each year.[77] The country's first cruise
ship, AMET Majesty, is registered in Chennai and is set to start from Chennai on 8 June 2011.
[78][79]

[edit] Operations
The port handles around 8 million tonnes of coal for clients such as the Andhra Pradesh State
Cargo-Handling Equipments
Locos (diesel) Chittaranjan
BHEL loco
Diesel/electric loco
Mobile cranes
Fork lift trucks
Floating crane
Electrical forklift trucks
Pay loaders
Shore electric cranes
Transfer cranes
Tractor head
Container quay cranes (35.5T/40T capacity)
Toplift trucks (25T and 35T capacity)
Trailors
Crawler-mounted cranes
Empty container handler
Reach stackers
10T/3T FLT

Total Units
8
10
2
12
55
1
24
7
25
10
34
4
5
32
3
1
3
7

Electricity Board, Karnataka Power Corporation, cement plants of Tamil Nadu and
independent power producers in northern Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh. The coal
handling for the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board was transferred to the Ennore Port. In 2005, as
part of pollution-control measure, the port has installed wind curtains made of ultraviolet
resistant fabric along the harbour's beachfront for over 1.5 km to the east of the coal terminal
to prevent wind carrying coal dust into the city at a cost of
3.7 million. In 2008, the port
has also installed a semi-mechanised closed coal conveyor system comprising two streams
with a capacity of 15 million metric tons/annum and a handling rated capacity of 1,500 metric
tons/hour/stream and running for a length of 5 km at two berths, namely, Jawahar Dock IV
and VI, at a cost of
430 million to transfer the coal to the individual coal plots at the
southern end of the port, from where the cargo will be transported by rail to respective
destinations, thus preventing pollution from coal dust and eliminating movement of coalcarrying trucks within the port. The conveyor runs at an elevation of 1013 m and has
provision for longitudinal movement along the road to the plots and transverse movement for
stacking coal at individual plots. Coal discharged into the hoppers located at the two docks is
conveyed to coal plots through conveyors or tripper cars and is equipped with belt weigher.[28]
The conveyor system is expected to remain functional for about 5 years, till Ennore Port is
ready to handle coal for all the clients.[80][81]
Bunkering at the port is currently carried out through the barge jetty in the extreme northern
end of the Bharathi Dock. This is a 30 m temporary facility with a draft of 2.5 to 3.0 m. This
jetty is used exclusively by Indian Oil Corporation for bunkering of Navy, Coast Guard, bulk

carriers and container shipsboth coastal and foreign ships. However, the demand for
bunker has outpaced the supply of infrastructure needed for bunkering in recent years.[82]
In 2007, a fully automated, round-the-clock helpline for providing information on the ships
berthed and waiting, the scale of rates and facilities available at the port, the first of its kind in
the country, was established.[83] In the same year, the Indian government agreed to lift
restrictions on concessionary Sri Lankan tea and apparel exports at the port.[84]
On 11 May 2011, the Madras High Court directed the Shipping Secretary that only clean
cargo such as containers and cars be allotted to the port for handling from 1 October 2011. All
dusty cargo such as coal and iron ore will be allotted to the Ennore Port.[85][86]
The port is one of the six ports in India through which drugs are permitted to be imported,
which is handled by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the other
ports being Kolkata, Mumbai, Nhava Sheva, Kochi and Kandla ports.[87]
As of 2011, cargo movement to the port is increasing by 21 per cent.[48] Over 5,000 container
trucks move through the port every day. However, the number of containers coming into the
port has dropped by 30 per cent in the same year.[88]

[edit] Auxiliary functions

[edit] Meteorological functions
The cyclone detection radar station of the Southern Regional Meteorological Centre is
located at the Centenary Building, the administrative building of the port.[89] It is located atop
the building at a height of about 53 m above sea level in a dome weighing 18 tonnes. The
radar scans the atmosphere within a radius of 500 km.[90] The Port Meteorological Office also
functions from the same building.[91]
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) maintains Voluntary Observing Fleet (VOF)
through the Port Meteorological Office comprising ships of Merchant Navy, Indian Navy and
foreign agencies through which meteorological observations from the ocean area are
collected on real-time basis for operational forecasting and climatological purpose.[92]

[edit] Disease control

The Port Health Organisation, Chennai, functioning under the Director General of Health
Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, was established in
1946 with an objective of preventing entry of yellow fever and other quarantinable and
communicable diseases from abroad.[27] Mosquito control in the port area is being undertaken
by two agencies, namely, the Chennai Port Trust and the Port Health Organisation. Antimosquito measures are undertaken by the Port Trust while the issuance of yellow fever
certificates, ship deratting and overall supervision of mosquito control is undertaken by the
Port Health Organisation.[49]

[edit] Connectivity
[edit] Extra-port connectivity
The foundation stone for the

6,000-million Chennai Port-Ennore road connectivity

project was laid in January 2011. The Ennore Manali Road Improvement Project (EMRIP) is
expected to be completed in 2 years.[93] Of the total cost of
6,000 million,
2,500
million would be contributed each by the National Highways Authority of India and the
Chennai Port Trust while
582 million would come from the Tamil Nadu government and
rest by Ennore Port Ltd. EMRIP, which was conceived in 1998, has been under
implementation for the past 10 years. The project envisages improvement of a 30.1-kilometre
(18.7 mi) road network in north Chennai that connects all the container freight station

handling containers for Chennai port. This includes 6 km (3.7 mi) of Ennore Expressway,
9 km (5.6 mi) of Thiruvotriyur Ponneri Pancheti Road, 5.4 km (3.4 mi) of Manali Oil
Refinery Road, 8.1 km (5.0 mi) of the northern segment of Inner Ring Road, and 1.6 km
(0.99 mi) of Chennai Port Trust Fishing Harbour Road, in addition to shore protection
measures comprising 13 groins along the Ennore coast.[94] The original cost of the project was
1,500 million but was revised due to addition of service road to the four lanes of
Thiruvottiyur-Pooneri-Panchetti road, provision of underpass on Ennore Expressway Road
and drainage on Manali Oil Refinery Road besides escalation of cost during the intervening
period.[95][96] The project completion is expected by June 2013.[97]
An 18.3-kilometre (11.4 mi) long, 20-metre (66 ft) wide elevated road project connecting the
port with Maduravoyal is under construction at a cost of
16,550 million. Upon
completion, this will be the country's longest four-way elevated expressway. The project was
sanctioned in June 2007 when the Tamil Nadu Government gave its 'in principle' approval to
the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for the elevated expressway. The project
cost then was put at
14,680 million. In January 2009, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan
Singh, laid the foundation stone for the project but the project was put on hold for want of
environment clearance.[98] The project has got the environment clearance in February 2011,
and during the same month, the port handed over a cheque for
500 million to the NHAI
as part of its contribution to the project. The expressway starts from Gate No. 10 of the
Chennai Port near the War Memorial and ends before Maduravoyal Interchange. It would run
along the banks of the Cooum up to Koyambedu and would end along the Cooum near the
Koyambedu grade separator. From there for a distance of three km up to Maduravoyal the
elevated expressway would come up on Poonamallee High Road. There would be a total of
four entry and exit ramps as part of the project. While the entry ramps would come up on
Sivananda Salai and College Road, the exit points would be provided on Spurtank Road and
Kamaraj Salai. The work at the Maduravoyal end began in December 2010. The project is
being implemented on a build, own and transfer mode. Of the total project cost of
16,550
million,

3,100 million has been set aside for land acquisition and rehabilitation and

resettlement of nearly 7,400 people living along the project area. About 1,300 people have
been rehabilitated at Okkiam Thoraipakkam. Of 30 hectares to be acquired for the project,
only 2 hectares belong to private owners. The project is expected to be completed by end of
2013.[99]

[edit] Intra-port connectivity

The total port roads run to a length of 27.5 km with a minimum width of 6 m and a maximum
width of 26 m.[53]

Chennai Beach Railway Station with Chennai Port in the background

The port is served by the Chennai Beach railway terminus in the Chennai Suburban Railway
Network of the Southern Railway, chiefly handling suburban trains on the Chennai BeachTambaram section of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. The port is one among the
major ports having terminal shunting yard and running its own railway operations inside the
harbour. The port has broad gauge railway lines running up to 68.8 km (42.8 mi) and handled
25 per cent of the total volume of the cargo, 4,360 rakes (239,412 wagons) during 2009-10.
As part of the port development, internal railway lines are being augmented for the
evacuation of containers from the port. Third and fourth railway lines are being developed by
the Southern Railway to improve connectivity to the port and the rail share of container
movement to 30 per cent from the current 7 per cent. The rest will be moved by road.[100][101]
Per the 2004 statistics, 11 per cent of the containers arrived by train and the rest by road.[1]
Every month, nearly 150,000 container-laden vehicles (both import and export) transit
through the port's only available gate (Zero Gate) at Royapuram, north of the port.[102]

[edit] Pipelines
The port is connected to the Chennai Petroleum Corporation's (CPCL) refinery in Manali via
a 30-inch-diameter pipeline. CPCL is planning to replace this with 42-inch-diameter pipeline
at a cost of
1,260 million along the proposed Quadrilateral Road Network from Chennai
Port to Ennore-Manali Highway.[103] However, citing threats to habitation, the government has
refused clearance to the project.[104]

[edit] Natural disasters

The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 26 December 2004, one of the deadliest in the recorded history,
had a devastating effect all over the region and, of course, damaged the port's infrastructure,
including cranes, wharfs, moorings and some part of the ship channel and hindered the
operations of the port for a brief period. Some of the ships hit the wharves close to where
they were berthed. Other damages at the port include collision of three ships while being
towed to deep sea resulting in the loss of about 1,500 tonnes of sugar and damages to some of
the cars that awaited export. The port suspended operations for two days.[105] The total
damage to property, infrastructure and equipment at the port due to the tsunami stood at
129.6 million. Rebuilding the entry channels and affected areas is expected to incur another
100 million. The port suffered a loss of
30 million due to operational halt on 26th
and 27 December 2004, during which around 2,50,000 tonnes of container could not be
serviced, with trade of 15 vessels on sail and 10 vessels at berth affected. This was in addition
to the loss due to waiving of marine charges owing to the disaster.[106]
As a consequence of the tsunami, the port trust plans to create an artificial beach from left of
the Cooum River (next to the Napier bridge) right up to fishing harbour in North Chennai
covering about 10 km to protect the port from seaside from similar natural calamities. The
beach is planned within the port's territory before the east breakwater on the seaside and
would not be accessible to the public. In addition, the port is also planning to reclaim the land
adjacent to the Cooum during the Tenth Plan.[107]
On the flip side, the disaster has made the port the deepest on the east coast. A bathymetry
survey conducted by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) to measure the
depth of the sea has revealed the entry channel to the port has deepened enabling the berthing
of vessels of deeper drafts. The high current generated by the tsunami waves dredged about
0.4 to 0.5 million cubic metres of sediments, which has deepened the 17.4 m-deep harbour by
1 to 2 m more, especially along the Dr. Ambedkar Dock and the Barathi Dock. Similarly, the
depth of the entry channel, which was 18.6 m, has deepened by a metre.[106][108]

[edit] Lights and lighthouses

Main article: Chennai Lighthouse
There are both historic and modern lighthouses in and around the port, some of which have
been decommissioned. The port is the location of one of Chennai's earliest lighthousesthe
entrance channel tower. The 24 m (79 ft) tall tower with a focal plane of 26 m (85 ft),
flashing white, red and green lights, is located north of the port. It is visible only from around
the entrance channel. This tower is still active. However, the first lighthouse of the city is
located just outside the port, in Fort St. George campus. It was active from 1796 till 1844.
The second and third lighthouses are located in the Madras High Court campus near the port.
The present lighthouse is located about 6 km south of the port on the Marina Beach. It is a
46 m (151 ft) tall, 11-storied triangular cylindrical concrete tower with lantern and double
gallery, attached to a 3-story circular harbour-control building, emitting light from a height of
57 m (187 ft) from the mean sea level. This lighthouse, which is active since 1977, is
powered by a 440V, 50 Hz main supply.

[edit] The future

A third box terminal has been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure. This
will require investment of US$800 million and will be offered as a build-operate-transfer
project, as part of a 30-year concession. Construction will take seven years to complete and
the deep-water container terminal will have a capacity of 4 million TEU.[109][110][111] The mega
container terminal project, expected to be the single largest terminal ever built in India,[112] is
to be developed north of existing Bharathi Dock with two new breakwaters (total length of
4.23 km (2.63 mi)), continuous quay length of 2 km (1.2 mi) with 22 m (72 ft) alongside
depth (ultimate) and a basin area of 300 hectares and back up area of 100 hectares.[113] The
gigantic proportions will feature 2 km quay length in a straight line at the new outer harbour,
with a 2.75 km extension of the existing outer arm breakwater and a new northern breakwater
of 1.73 km emanating from the eastern breakwater of the fishing harbour.[114] The project also
involves converting waterfront into 225 acres of land. The other side of breakwater would be
used by the port as a berth to handle oil vessels.[63] The project will be the first deep-water
terminal of its kind in India and can handle ultra-large container ships of capacity over 15,000
TEUs and length of 400 m (1,300 ft). Overall project completion is expected by 2018. In
September 2011, Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd (MPSEZ) emerged as the sole
and lowest bidder for constructing the mega terminal.[63][115] Based on earlier projections,
Chennai is expected to handle 5 million TEUs by 2017.
Chennai Port Trust has plans to build a marina along a 200-metre (660 ft) stretch in the west
quay to berth a dozen yachts. The marina will provide lockers, separate berths and other
facilities to these sailors, who come in small boats. The sailors can then proceed inland for
sightseeing. However, the plan still remains on paper. Although the plan to build a large-scale
marina is at the proposal stage, the port cannot have a marina till the coal yard is vacated.
After coal handling is moved out, the port will reclaim land by constructing groynesrigid
hydraulic structures built from an ocean shore that interrupt water flow and limit the
movement of sediment.[116]
The Rajiv Gandhi dry port (container freight station) and multi-modal logistics hub near
Sriperumbudur special economic zone (SEZ) is under development at an estimated cost of
3,800 million, including land cost of
1,001.6 million. Proposed components include
ICD/off-dock CFS, container yard, rail and road connectivity to national rail and road
network, trade centre, warehouses for containerized cargos like leather garments, textiles,
automotive components and electronic hardware. A total of 125 acres of land at Mappedu in

the Sriperumbudur SEZ alloted by SIPCOT of the Government of Tamil Nadu is being
acquired for the project on a 99-year lease basis. The first-of-its-kind project[48] is expected to
be completed by 2014. The distance between Chennai Port and the dry port is about 50 km
(31 mi). About 19 km (12 mi) would be covered by the elevated corridor, 16 km (9.9 mi) by
National Highway 4 and balance by a single-line state highway that would be converted into
two-lane soon. The dry port would consist of 75 acres (30 ha) of custom-bound area and 50
acres (20 ha) of non-custom bound area and would accommodate containers, hazardous and
non-hazardous materials. A barge jetty-cum-liquid cargo terminal at an outlay of
250
million is also being proposed on PPP mode.[117] This is one of the three container freight
stations planned by Chennai Port Trust.[3]
A barge handling facility at the Bharathi Dock is being developed at a cost of
250
million. The project is expected to be completed by 2013. The 200 m long barge jetty is being
developed with a depth of 10 m and back area of 7,500 m. The jetty is proposed to be
constructed between the iron ore berth and oil terminal so as to cater to barges and bunkers
and similar vessels handling liquid cargo.[75]
The port is planning to construct a parking facility on an 11-acre stretch in Thiruvottiyur for
container trucks.[118] The port is also investing
500 million to have more berths
exclusively for bunkering.[30]
The port has decided to have a 7.5 MW wind energy farm in Tirunelveli district at an outlay
of
493.1 million.[119]
To reduce congestion at the harbour, which has two bays (two each for entry and two for exit
of containers), the port plans to modernise zero gate and open one more bay and widen the
roads that lead to zero gate and to lay six to eight lanes from the zero gate to avoid stranding
of vehicles.[120]
In December 2011, as part of security measures, the Directorate of Logistics, Customs and
Central Excise planned to get a fixed mega container scanner within the next few months at a
location near the Zero Gate of the port at a cost of
600 million from a U.S.-based
company.[121]
The Chennai Port Trust plans to develop a barge handling facility inside the port at a cost of
260 million in Bharathi Dock through public-private partnership to meet the increase in
demand for bunkering - fuel oil used aboard ships. The need for barge facility is also due to
the increasing vessel movements and vessel size. The proposed length of the jetty will be
three times the length of the present facility. The jetty could accommodate barges with
carrying capacity of 1,000 tonne to 3,000 tonne. In addition to bunkering fuel and edible oil,
other cargoes that are envisaged to be handled at the proposed facility include vegetable oil
(crude and refined), furnace oil and molasses.[82]

[edit] Sister ports

The port has sister port agreements with the following ports to cooperate in maritime
transportation and port development. This will also cover technical expertise, cruise
knowledge, container terminal and tourism between the sister ports.
Country
Port
State / Region
Since
Port of
Belgium
West Flanders
November 2008
[122]
Zeebrugge

Canada

Port of Halifax[123]

Nova Scotia

January 2009