File picture of a ship docked at Paradip port

Paradip, Sept. 2: Rain is slowing down the export of iron ore from Paradip port.

With ore reaching the port stockyard found excessively wet, the shipping companies are shying away from transportation the same because of safety concerns. The vessels carrying bulk cargo that is wet run the risk of getting capsized.

A Mongolian ship sunk off the Paradip coast on September 8, 2009. The reason of the mishap was attributed to the wet ore that it was carrying.

Ships waiting in berths for voyage are stranded for more than a week at the port.

According to international maritime organisation guidelines, the maximum moisture limit in iron ore is 10 per cent of the total weight.

However, iron ore being transported to the port from the mineral-rich hinterland of the state at the moment have more than the permissible limit of moisture.

“The ore reaching us are not meeting the transportation moisture limit and are extremely wet. The ship owners and exporters have been directed not to undertake voyages because that may prove hazardous due to load of the wet cargo,” said deputy conservator of Paradip Port Trust Gouri Prasad Biswal.

The International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargo Code bars the ships from carrying cargo with moisture content. We are sticking to the code in letter and spirit, said a port official.

It is pertinent to note here that iron ore traffic has registered an impressive 112.48 per cent growth in Paradip port in recent months despite mining restrictions by the state government.

The situation has improved because the directorate of mines of the state government has accorded clearance to some iron ore mines owners to export.

Earlier, there was acute scarcity of iron ore cargo plots in the port. The permits of 59 plots were cancelled in August, 2012. The port has created ample space for iron ores handling. Besides, 15 new cargo plots measuring 4,500sqm have been created exclusively for iron ore traffic, said traffic manager of Paradip Port Trust Kishore Kumar Sahu.

Demand of iron ore has gone up in the international market. But the port is not in a position to handle more than 1,000 truckloads of iron ore everyday for export because of the shortage of cargo plots for stockpiling, said Sahu