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Outer harbour could cut high dredging costs at Vallarpadam box shop

THE ever-rising expense of channel dredging at the Vallarpadam Terminal, is prompting the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) to consider building an offshore outer harbour.

The crisis could be resolved if 200,000 containers could be handled at an outer harbour facility, which would be developed on 2,600 acres of reclaimed land, said CPT chairman Paul Antony.

"We can run ICTT (Kochi International Container Transshipment Terminal) without loss if two lakh [200,000] TEU more containers are handled," said Mr Antony, reports the New Indian Express.

"It has been found that the outer harbour could reduce dredging cost up to 40 per cent. At 21 million cubic metres per year, the Cochin Port has the highest siltation among Indian ports, necessitating year-round maintenance dredging," he said.

"The dredging cost is the single largest expense of the port now."

He said conceptual studies conducted by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and the Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune, show that the intensity of sea erosion as well as the siltation in the Cochin port can be reduced if two breakwaters are put up at the mouth of the port.

"Of two breakwaters are constructed, there will be accretion to the coastline - around 50-100 metres in Fort Kochi-Chellanam area and 100-200 metres in the Puthuvypeen area - in 10 years. As such, the project is of immense environmental importance to the Cochin coast," Mr Antony said.

He is also hopeful that the setting up an outer harbour would bring fortune to the port. "The land will be ideal for developing dedicated terminals for an industry. It will be suitable for setting up an oil hub," he said.