GPPL to invest more on dredging

Kolkata: Gujarat Pipavav Port (GPPL), promoted by the Netherlands-based APM Terminals, announced it would invest an additional Rs 260 crore immediately to dredge to 14.5 metre draft to improve accessibility to the port, according to a press release issued by GPPL.

The company, it is indicated, has entered into a contract with Zincon Marine (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Royal Boskalis Westminster, to undertake capital dredging to increase the draft from 12.5 to 14.5 metres and the job is to be completed by mid-2009.

Mr Philip Littlejohn, Managing Director of GPPL, in a statement, said, “We have presently undertaken construction of an additional container yard to support a container cargo volume of 600,000 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) a year, expected to be completed by December 2008 and we intend to construct container yards for supporting container cargo volume of additional 670,000 TEUs by December 31, 2009.”