MV Orient Centaur, a ship from Cyprus, that arrived at Paradip port on Thursday. Telegraph picture

Paradip, July 5: A large vessel with bigger cargo carrying capacity has finally made its way to the Paradip port following upgrade of its facilities.

MV Orient Centaur, a ship from Cyprus carrying coal to the tune of 1.15 lakh metric tonnes, has landed at the port here today, marking the first entry of a large vessel to the port for berthing after deepening of its harbour channel. Port authorities said the merchant ship was 225-metre long and 45-metre wide.

“We are hopeful of berthing of more large ships in the coming days. This would lead to enhancement of our annual business turnover,” said Gouri Prasad Biswal, deputy conservator, PPT.

With decline in export of iron ores since past one year following governmental restriction on mining operation, the PPT has witnessed downward trend of annual business transaction along with other major ports of the country.

The deepening of the harbour is being perceived as a timely step for enhancing cargo handling. At the same time, a deeper harbour and berths would be effective tools to safeguard the commercial interest of the port.

The depth of the inner harbour has been raised to 14-metre. Port authorities said work was under way for further deepening of the harbour channel.

The draft of central berth–I has recently been increased to 14 metres by dredging. Now, the berth has been made equipped to accommodate Panamax-size vessels. This berth would be effectively used for handling various types of bulk and break bulk cargo, said PPT chairman S.A.C. Bose.

The PPT has embarked on a Rs 254-crore harbour development project for hassle-free ferrying and anchorage of large ships as part of its modernisation programme.

At present, dredging operation is going on in full swing at the harbour. From its existing 13-metre depth, the harbour was being deepened to 19 metres for unhindered landing of large cargo ships, said a senior port official.

“Once the dredging work is complete, the infrastructure of the port will receive a major facelift. Large cargo carrying ships had so far remained out of bounds for Paradip port. Earlier, the port was capable to provide accommodation to ships carrying cargo of up to 75,000 tonnes. With a deeper harbour, it will be possible for the port to give berth to ship carrying cargo 1.25 lakh tonnes or more without any obstruction,” said Bose.

“Development of the harbour stays in the list of priorities of the port. We have pumped in Rs 254 crore for its expeditious completion. Though the project work got started three years ago, it got stuck in rocky layers under the sea surface. The excavations got aground after coming in touch with under rocks,” he said.

“The Dredging Corporation of India has been entrusted with the work of extracting the rocky undersea substances. Improvised excavators have been pressed into service for carrying out the highly-complicated technical operation. The dredging work is expected to come to an end shortly. A couple of exclusive berths capable of accommodating ships up to the capacity of 1.25 lakh tonnes would later be built to enhance the cargo handling capacity of the port,” said Biswal, deputy conservator, PPT.