Maritime board gets 50 acres for Bandra shipping terminal

NOVEMBER 21: Plans are afoot to set up regional shipping terminals along the coast with the state government allotting 50 acres to the Ma...

NOVEMBER 21: Plans are afoot to set up regional shipping terminals along the coast with the state government allotting 50 acres to the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) to build the necessary infrastructure.

The proposed terminal at Bandra will have the three-fold objectives of launching sea transport services for passengers at various nodal points of Mumbai, to provide shipping links and roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) services to neighbouring states like Karnataka and Gujarat and to provide passenger services to various coastal districts of Maharashtra.

Disclosing the details of the project at a seminar on `Coastal Shipping and Inland Water Transport’ organised by the Indian Merchants Chamber (IMC) on Saturday, VS Dhumal, chief executive officer of the MMB said the master plan of the Bandra shipping terminal project is ready and the feasibility study had commenced. “Within six months of completion of the feasibility study, tenders will be called for the construction of jetties and infrastructure. We aim tohave a sea draft of about four metres at the terminals.”

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The MMB had already been holding discussions with the Gujarat Maritime Board on the need to set up terminals and road connectivity at their end, he added.Others who spoke at the seminar included Director General of Shipping B K Biswas, State Port Officer of the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board I V G Prasad, IMC President Pradeep Chinai and Chairperson of the IMC Transport Committee Jagdish Sheth.

Dhumal said a techno-economic feasibility study is ready for another major project to link the Bassein Creek, Ulhas river estuary and the Thane creek to develop sea transport around Mumbai. Similarly, the MMB is also studying options for sea transport for passengers between the Gateway of India, Nariman Point, cross-harbour, Navi Mumbai, Rewas and Mandwa.

Earlier, delivering his keynote address, DGS Biswas said uniform standards have been laid down in the classification society in respect of construction, design and communication systems to ensure safety of allships, whether ocean-going or coastal. “As the condition of ocean-going ships is quite different from those of coastal and inland vessels, there is scope for prescribing revised standards specific in each category,” he said.

According to Pradeep Chinai, a National Conference on Transportation System Studies had shown that the bulk cargo per tonne kilometre by water transport was far lower for short and medium distance hauls. “For a 50 km distance,the haulage cost would be 23.6 paise by rail, 27 paise by road and only 10.3 paise by ship,” he said. Chinai also welcomed the government’s proposal to reserve coastal shipping exclusively for domestic flag carriers, as demanded by the Indian National Shipowners Association (INSA).