The Visakhapatnam Port Authority has announced the expansion of its container terminal that has the deepest natural depth of 16 metres. The expansion undertaken at a pre-revised cost of Rs 633.11 crore by the BOT operator JM Baxi Group enables the terminal to handle a small vessel and two large liners of 350 metre length with a capacity of 20,000 teus.
“The container terminal after completion of expansion adds our capacity and will enable us to improve our ranking in future by attracting more import and export cargo,” VPA Chairman K Rama Mohana Rao said recently. VPA is also gearing up to face competition amid reports that a nearby private port is also making efforts to foray into container business. VPA has already focused on expanding its client base with the introduction of end to end logistics solutions. The terminal exports aluminium, alloys, agricultural proudcts, frozen seafood mostly shrimp and steel to the Far East, Western Europe, China and South East Asia. Frozen shrimp goes to the USA and China. It imports scrap, chemicals, wood pulp, refractories and ores from the USA, China and Middle East. “Now our capacity has gone up from 0.7 million TEUs to 1.3 million TEUs. With our strategic location, infrastructure and facilities, we will certainly improve our operations significantly,” said Anil Narayanan, Deputy COO, Visakha Container Terminal Private Ltd (VCTPL).
