The ongoing crisis at Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) has already started having an impact on industry in the region. Anticipating a dip in stocks, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has started unloading imported thermal coal for its power plants at Farakka and Kahalgaon on barges from ships waiting at the Sandheads. The plan is to sail these barges to HDC, unload the thermal coal and transport them to the power plants.“The MV Stx Mutiara arrived at the Sandheads with nearly 74,000 tonnes of thermal coal for the power plants. Had operations not been suspended at berths 2 and 8 of HDC, the ship should have been unloaded there by now. The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) management has made several attempts to convince Haldia Bulk Terminals (HBT) Pvt Ltd to resume operations at the two mechanized berths but the company has not done so. Some thermal coal is even lying at the berths and efforts are on to evacuate this cargo through an emergency tendering process. Under the circumstances, there was not any option for NTPC but to start unloading cargo from ships at the Sandheads,” it is learnt from KoPT sources.
KoPT has been contemplating the idea of trans-loading general bulk cargo at the Sandheads for quite some time now. In fact, NTPC is already making preparations to go in for major trans-loading of imported thermal coal from ships at the Sandheads and transporting it to Farakka via the inland waterways route. A jetty has already been built at Farakka and trans-loaders are expected to be in place by January when the operations are to start.
“NTPC was to transport about three million tonnes of thermal coal in this manner for better utilization of capacity at the power plant in Farakka. This was to be in addition to the nearly three million tonnes of thermal coal handled by HDC. The coal that is being trans-loaded now is part of the HDC’s share. There is a silver lining to this. We wish to promote trans-loading in a big way and have asked importers to consider using the anchorage at Sandheads between October and March, when the weather is fair. We also plan to carry out trans-loading at Kanika Sands but the issue is caught in a legal wrangle. Maybe, NTPC’s move will encourage others to carry out trans-loading operations of other items. Barges don’t have to enter the port confines at Haldia and can use riverine jetties. This saves time and effort,” a port official said.
A section of officials has, however, raised questions on whether the barges being used to unload the coal at the Sandheads are fit enough to do so. There are allegations that the barges are of IV Class and have permission to carry out such operations only up to Sagar Island. The licences to barges are issued by the Directorate General of Shipping.
The port management refuses to see any conspiracy behind this. “We don’t have the details of the barges. However, when they reach HDC, it will be checked whether they are certified. If importers want smooth operations, they should use certified barges,” said an official of the KoPT’s Mercantile Marine Department.
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