KPCL carves a deep draft on the East coast

Krishnapatnam Port has increased its draft for container terminal to 16 meters. The terminal now shares the honour of being one of the deepest draft container ports on the east coast of India. Krishnapatnam Port already enjoys the status of having 18.5 meter draft, deepest in India for its bulk terminal. The port has started offering transshipment services, with coastal operator Shreyas Shipping running feeder services between Krishnapatnam Port and Kolkata/Haldia port. There is a special coastal berthing facility at Krishnapatnam that has been made available for transshipment cargo and coastal transshipment vessels. With the new achievement, Krishnapatnam Port has not only surpassed Chennai and other ports in terms of the deepest draft but has also been able to match the global standards. The port will now be able to accommodate Ultra large container vessels, leading to a spurt in the cargo volumes handled. On the new facility, Vinita Venkatesh, Director, KPCT, said, “With the new deepened draft and availability of coastal berth facility for transshipment cargo, we are now offering a 360-degree holistic wharf side of products for our customers. The large vessels can now make calls to Krishnapatnam Port to load or discharge hinterland as well as transshipment speedily.”