The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Cargo vessel at Cuddalore port after 12 years

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Sunday, Jan 20, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Cargo vessel at Cuddalore port after 12 years

Special Correspondent

It has brought 24,400 tonnes of urea from China

Unloading operation will go on for the next 15 days
Arrival of ship provides employment to 2,000 persons

CUDDALORE: After a gap of 12 years, a cargo ship, the M.V. Bao Shun, carrying the Kingstown St. Vincent flag, has anchored at the Cuddalore Port.

It has brought 24,400 tonnes of urea from China and anchored at 1.5 km offshore on Friday.

It shows that the port is equipped to receive cargo vessels and has the potential to become a buzzing place soon, sources said. The unloading operation that started at 8.30 a.m. on Saturday would go on for the next 15 days.

The shipping agents -- Atlantic Shipping Pvt Ltd, Chennai, and ADJ and Brothers, Cuddalore, -- have brought the commodity for Nagarjuna Fertilizers Pvt. Ltd, the sources said. The cargo is being towed to the port in a 400-tonne barge.

Deepening helped

The vessel could call on the port because of the deepening of the south and north breakwaters at a cost of Rs.6.5 crore.

With financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank, various other development works have been taken up at the port. These include dredging [Rs.4 crore], laying of approach roads [Rs.1 crore], installation of high mast lamps [Rs.6.5 lakh] and creating wharf facility [Rs.15 lakh].

The sources said the arrival of the cargo ship had the potential to provide direct and indirect employment to about 2,000 people, including the barge crew and those required for unloading the bags and stacking it in the godown.

While the shipping agents have deployed the workforce, the port authorities were monitoring the unloading operation.

Earlier, the port was busy importing essential commodities such as wheat and rice and exporting iron ore. Though cargo vessels stopped calling on the port 12 years ago, other small vessels used to arrive for getting certificates of sea worthiness, the sources added.

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