Deep-draught general cargo berth at New Mangalore Port become operational

Mangalore: The newly built deep-draught general cargo berth at the New Mangalore port has become fully operational with m.v. Ocean Paradise berthing there.

With the commissioning of this berth, the total handling capacity of the port has increased by another three million tonnes a year.

A press release by the New Mangalore Port Trust said here on Monday that m.v. Ocean Paradise, with a draught of 11.80 metres, berthed at the general cargo berth no.14 on February 19 to load 46,500 tonnes of iron ore fines to China. This is the first vessel to berth there, it said.

Terapanth is the exporter of the cargo and Aspinwal & Co is the C&F agent and stevedores.

The Rs 40.82-crore berth with a draught of 14 metres and length of 350 metres can accommodate vessels up to 90,000 dwt, which is almost three times the parcel size of ships that are now being handled at general cargo berth nos. 2 to 7. The release said that the new berth would be beneficial to importers and exporters and other user agencies for handling iron ore, coal, fertilisers and other general bulk cargoes.

It may be mentioned here that the Union Shipping Minister, Mr T.R. Baalu, had dedicated the deep-draught berth to the nation at a function in Bangalore on February 14.