V O Chidambaranar (VOC) Port Authority, the state-owned entity that runs the port at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, has taken over the container handling berth after PSA SICAL Terminals Ltd prematurely exited the facility on February 28, 2025, and will turn it into a multipurpose cargo berth.
However, the old container handling equipment, including quay cranes or ship to shore cranes installed by PSA SICAL Terminals are yet to be taken over by the port authority due to internal differences over their pricing, sources familiar with the matter said.
ASV Associates, which was hired by the port authority and PSA SICAL to undertake valuation of assets, is said to have pegged the value of the equipment at about Rs 24 crore, treating them as scrap.
However, an internal assessment made by the port authority is understood to have assessed the equipment value at about Rs 20 crore.
The built, operate and transfer (BOT) agreement signed with PSA SICAL Terminals clearly states that all equipment erected by the private operator will be transferred to the port authority for free at the end of the license period of 30 years.
PSA SICAL shut the terminal and exited some three years before the 30-year license period was supposed to end in 2028.
“As the equipment have completed their lifespan, the port authority is not in favour of buying it. Since this issue is yet to be sorted out, the port authority has only taken over the berth,” a source said.
The berth with exclusive approach road, 370 metres quay length, 11.7 metres draft and storage area of 100,000 square metres will facilitate the port users to handle multipurpose cargo, the port authority said.
On Monday, the port authority “formally inaugurated” the Berth 7 (previously run by PSA SICAL Terminals) as “its own berth” in the presence of senior officials from the Customs Department, port, terminal operators and port users.
“The berth will be used to handle ships carrying clean cargo. With less than a month to go for the financial year to end, many ships are waiting at the port’s outer anchorage. These ships will be handled at the berth,” a source said.
The port authority plans to hire an operation and maintenance (O&M) operator to run the berth as a container handling facility in the fiscal year beginning April, the source said.
(source : ET Infra)