Terminal repair at VPT to be completed by Aug

Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) is undertaking repair work on the Offshore Tanker Terminal (OSTT), which was damaged by Cyclone Hudhud, for handling crude oil at the major port.

VPT sources said the project of restoration of the OSTT at the outer harbour of the major port is being taken up at a cost of Rs 19 crore and is likely to be completed by August this year.

VPT sources said the OSTT was damaged by cyclone Hudhud following which a team from IIT-Chennai was roped in to conduct a study and suggest repairs for the terminal. While initially port officials had estimated that the repair project may cost around Rs 100 crore, the subsequent report submitted by IIT-Chennai indicated that the project may be carried out at a lower cost. The OSTT is used mainly to handle crude oil coming into the port which is later sent to the HPCL refinery for distillation. The port is also used as a transhipment hub to load crude oil into smaller vessels heading towards Haldia Port in West Bengal.

“The work is progressing and we are hoping to complete it in August. The repair work is being taken up based on the plan given by IIT-Chennai. Once the work is completed, the crude oil load will be handled by both the OSTT and Single Point Mooring (SPM), which is another offshore point for loading and unloading crude oil away from the harbour,” a senior VPT official said.

“Right now, there is requirement of around 8 million tonnes of crude oil, but it will go up to around 15 million tonnes once the expansion of HPCL refinery is taken up. By then, we need to have both the OSTT and SPM operational,” he said.

“Half portion of the OSTT was sunk by cyclone Hudhud and we are reinforcing and restoring the portions that were damaged at that time,” he added.