In line with its ambitions to emerge as a coastal cargo hub on the east coast of the country, Krishnapatnam Port Container Terminal (KPCT) has decided to set up a dedicated coastal cargo berth by May end to handle the growing coastal cargo traffic. The container terminal, which handled 2,55,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) of cargo in 2016- 17 and is eyeing around 3,50,000-400,000 TEUs this fiscal, has also set its sights on pharma cargo coming to and originating from Hyderabad as well as scrap imports, among others, to propel the next phase of growth. “We already have two berths. We will now be setting up a dedicated smaller berth for coastal cargo, which should be ready by May end. We already have a 650 metre berth length and just have to move the agri cargo that we were handling at one end and put up some equipment instead to start off,” KPCT director Vinita Venkatesh said, adding that the terminal is looking at around 5000 TEUs per month of coastal cargo exports and 2000 TEUs per month of imports.
KPCT currently has a draft of 13.5-14 metres, is now deepening it to nearly 15-15.5 so that it can handle larger sized vessels. The terminal has its own dredgers and have started the work.
