Offering hope to exporters and manufacturing firms, Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) expects to have three mobile harbour cranes operational within six to 12 months.
MPA has spent approximately Rs 3 crore to repair the existing crane that has been lying defunct since 2020. MPA has also floated a tender to bring in a private player to operate two additional mobile harbour cranes.
“We have received the tender and are now waiting for security clearance. So by this week if we get the security clearance we can immediately award the tender. We have gone for two cranes. One we already have, so in another six months or one year we will have three cranes operational,” said Guruprasad Rai MPA deputy chairman.
The port’s harbour crane broke down in 2020 and the feeder service for the container cargo also stopped operations as there was no harbour cane or container cargo. The ministry for ports, shipping and waterways (MoS) had asked MPA to procure a 100-tonne mobile crane as part of a tender to redevelop berth 10 and 11 under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
The crane is essential to boost the volume of container cargo at the port but authorities were reluctant to invest in a crane due to low cargo volumes, which industry players call a ‘chicken and egg’ situation. MPA had initially sought funds under the Sagarmala mission, but were refused by the MoS.
“We had a crane which is nine years old and we just spent Rs 3 crore to repair the crane. By the first week of October the repaired crane will be ready. Right now the testing is going on,” said Rai. “So by the end of 2024, there will be three cranes at the port.”
However, MPA still needs to find a shipping firm willing to operate a container feeder service to Jawaharlal Nehru port trust (JNPT) at Navi Mumbai, or the Mundra port – India’s first private port and largest container port, located in Gujarat.
“Now the challenge is getting a shipping line to restart a feeder service. Once you lose their confidence, then regaining the confidence is very difficult,” said Rai.