Chennai Port Trust have extended the submission of bid date for development of dry dock
Picture for representational purpose
Chennai: In order to woo investors to the city port, Chennai Port Trust (CPT) has extended the submission of the bid date for development of dry dock facility at Port Basin and timber pond from August 25 to September 12. The move is expected to bring positive response from two companies ABG Infralogistics Limited and TEBMA shipyards who have shown strong interest in bidding for the dry dock.
After losing a major chunk of income because of the ban on coal and iron ore handling, the city port has been trying to attract investors to develop unused areas in the port and earn some revenue on a tenant-landlord model. Hundred years ago, the timber pond was used as a facility to store timber in wet conditions. Currently, there are no commercial operations and only the port’s craft and tugs are sheltered in the Port Basin.
“The dry dock project cost is over Rs 300 crore. We expect good bids this time. There is a lot of demand for ship repair docks in the country now,” said CPT chairman Atulya Misra. The project has been planned in about 61,000 square metres of water area for repairing and building vessels of up to 10,000 DWT (dead weight tonnage). “There is a lot of scope and a huge demand especially from the Coast Guard. We only require funds to develop it,” said a senior port trust official.
CPT handles about 2,000 ships annually, but does not have a proper ship repair facility. The senior official said that the current three-meter draft could be dredged up to six-meters to accommodate bigger vessels.CPT did not receive any bid last time to develop the dry dock and so Cochin Shipyard, a PSU, was awarded the contract on a nomination basis, but it pulled out citing a techno commercial study which found it financially unviable.
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