MANGALORE: New Mangalore Port handled 13,000 tonnes of wheat recently after a gap of six years showcasing its ability to handle non-traditional cargo such as foodgrains. Crude oil products, iron ore pellets, iron ore fines, container cargo, liquefied petroleum gas constituted majority of 34.45 million tonnes of cargo commodities were handled by the port during 2005-06.

While the 13,000 tonnes of wheat handled represents hardly 0.1 per cent of the total volume of cargo handled at New Mangalore Port, the port trust authorities are keen to promote it.

S. Gopalakrishna, traffic manager, New Mangalore Port Trust told The Hindu here on Tuesday that a local docker was disqualified from participating in a tender floated by Food Corporation of India (FCI) as New Mangalore Port had not handled wheat for past six years and that it did not have the infrastructure to store wheat. Qualified dockers from Chennai and Tuticorin were not willing to operate here.

The port authorities have since set aside two godowns exclusively to store foodgrains including wheat. With Hasan Haji, a local docker successfully handling wheat at New Mangalore Port on August 29, authorities are confident they would attract foodgrain cargo when FCI next floats its tender again for the commodity. Moreover, we want to be in a position to handle all types of cargo and not restrict ourselves to certain varieties, he said.

On the cargo-handling scenario, Mr. Gopalakrishna said the port had handled 13.4 million tonnes as against 15.06 million tonnes during the corresponding period last year, a shortfall of 16.6 lakh tonnes during the current fiscal. This was mainly due to shortfall in iron ore fines and iron ore concentrate handled through Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited and a major 45-day shutdown by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. in early part of the fiscal year.

Target

Despite this shortfall, Mr. Gopalakrishna expressed confidence of meeting the target of 37.25 million tonnes during 2006-07. The commissioning of Hassan-Mangalore broad gauge line was bringing in cargo, especially coal and iron ore fines, from the hinterland. The trend for other bulk cargo such as container cargo was positive. Minor hitches in handling iron ore and petroleum products too had been resolved, he said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail