Coal news and updates

Vizag Port loses 1 mt of cargo due to cyclone

October 24: Vizag Port on the east coast of India lost nearly 1 million tons (mt) of cargo in last 10 days due to inability to berth vessels following the landfall of cyclone Hudhud, an official from the port told ICMW.

“We have lost a considerable tonnage of almost 1 mt. We have lost the cargo in the sense that we could not berth the vessels though they were at anchorage.”

The infrastructural loss incurred by the port due to the cyclone stood at almost Rs 200 crore, the official added.

Meanwhile, the port is likely to berth its second vessel at the outer harbour post-cyclone on the second shift of October 24, the official added.

“Though we have given notice for berthing of the second vessel post-Hudhudon October 23 evening, we could not do it because some damage was detected. Our team has seen it yesterday evening (October 23) and today (October 24) it is continuing work and most likely in the second shift we will be able to berth the vessel,” the official said.

This is the second vessel to be berthed after the cyclone is over. The first vessel berthed yesterday (on October 23) already,” he said.

Commenting on infrastructure condition, the senior official added that at the inner harbour there is no damage of the conveyer or crane but the roofs of the cranes have blown away and power supply is yet to resume for shore cranes.

“We expect the power supply to be restored in one or two days,” he added.

He also said night berthing, which had been suspended in the outer harbour area since the landfall of the cyclone, resumed on October 21. “Lights were damaged in one area in the outer harbour on account of the cyclone, which have been restored two days back and on October 21 night berthing started,” he added.