Karaikal Port

The Karaikal Port, also called Karaikal Port Private Limited (KPPL), is a private port developed by the Chennai based MARG Limited, and became operational in April, 2009. The port is located on the Eastern coast of India in keezhavanjore village in Karaikal District of Puducherry state around 300 Km along the coast south of Port of Chennai and around 360 Km along the coast north of Tuticorin Port. The shoreline of the port is between 10o 50’56’’ N and 10o 49’44’’ N.

Overview
Karaikal Port project began with a Letter of Interest issued by Govt. of Puducherry for development of a port at Karaikal in September 2005. MARG Ltd. signed the concession agreement in 2006 and construction began in February, 2007. Phase 1 was envisaged to be operational in Aug 2009. Karaikal Port became operational in April 2009 when it received its first vessel. Phase 1 comprises 2 Panamax size berths capable of handling 5.2 million MT of cargo per annum. The port has received over 250 vessels since Commercial Operations and has handled over 5 million MT of various cargo.

KPPL has partners in Ocean Sparkle (marine operations) and PSTS (Stevedoring). Cargo evacuation is assisted by MARG Logistics, a sister concern of KPPL.

Timeline

 * Sep 2005 - LOI Issued by GOP for Port Development at Karaikal
 * Jan 2006 - Concession Agreement Signed
 * May 2006 - Received MOEF Clearance for Phase 1
 * Nov 2006 - Financial Closure for Phase 1 Achieved
 * Feb 2007 - Final Tranche of Land Received
 * Feb 2007 - Development for Phase 1 Commenced
 * Mar 2009 - Phase 1 completed
 * Apr 2009 – Karaikal Port Receives first Vessel

Current status
Karaikal Port is poised to be a multi-cargo handling terminal. So far the port has handled cargoes such as coal, pet coke, raw sugar, fertilizer, cement, project cargo and construction materials. Containers and liquid cargo are soon to follow. On completion, the port will be capable of handling all types of cargo. Karaikal Port is also a hub for oil exploration activities and OSV/PSVs belonging to companies such a Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (HOEC)and Reliance Petroleum regularly call at the port.

Karaikal Port is a deep draft, all weather port. The current depth of 14.5 m allows for handling of Gearless Panamax size vessels (up to 80000 MT). The final depth of 16.5 m will allow cape size vessels (up to 120000 MT) to call at the port. The lagoon type basin protected by breakwaters allows operations all around the year.

Karaikal Port received its first Gearless Panamax vessel in November, 2009 and became the first Commercial port on Tamil Nadu coast to do so. The port also has the distinction of being the only private port to export cargo belonging to power equipment major Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), which is a government agency.

The port obtained rail connectivity in January 2010 and its 3 railway sidings are connected to Trichy via Nagore. Karaikal Port regularly dispatches 4-5 rakes of coal as well as Fertilizer everyday.

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