Mormugao Port Trust

Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) is a port on the western coast of India, in the coastal state of Goa. Commissioned in 1885 on the site of a natural harbour, it is one of India's oldest ports.[1] The port employs around 2,600 employees and has about 4,000 pensioners.[2]

Mormugao Port Trust (MPT)
Logo of Mormugao Port Trust
Location
CountryIndia
LocationMormugao, Goa
Coordinates15°24′32″N 73°48′04″E
Details
Opened1885
Operated byMormugao Port Trust
Owned byGovernment of India
Available berths11
Employees2600
Statistics
Website
www.mptgoa.gov.in

The Mormugao Port Trust, which operates the port, is the largest employer in the Vasco region and has a complete mini-township in Headland Sada which includes schools, residential complexes and amenities (like a hospital) for employees of the Port.[3]

Location
Aerial view of Mormugao Harbour

Mormugao Port is located in the town of Mormugao, Goa, India. It has a naturally protected open-type harbour, that lies on the southern part of the mouth of the river Zuari. This harbour is also protected using a breakwater and a mole that was built from the outer end of the breakwater and runs parallel to the wharf.[4]

History
Mormugao port c. 1890s

In the 19th century, Portuguese India and British India decided to join forces to improve maritime trade, under the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1878.[5][6][7][8][9] Mormugao was identified as having one of the best natural harbours, and a metre-gauge railway line was constructed to connect it. The work of modernising the port and laying the metre-gauge railway was undertaken by a British company, ‘The Western Indian Portuguese Guaranteed Railway Company’. This company was founded in Britain exclusively for this purpose. The Portuguese paid a huge sum for the project, and even paid for the registration of this company in England. Work began in 1878. The harbour was commissioned in 1885, and the railway line (running till Sanvordem, and later to Castle Rock) was inaugurated in 1887. The first ship to sail into Mormugao Port was the SS Westbourne, which brought railway equipment, in April 1885.[10]

During World War II, Mormugao Harbour was the site of Operation Creek, which resulted in the bombing of a German merchant ship, Ehrenfels, which had secretly been transmitting information to U-boats. In 2017, MPT announced that it would salvage the remnants of the ship, as they were hindering the progress in a project of setting up a fishing harbour.[11]

The port was recognised as a major port in 1963 under the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963, shortly after the Liberation of Goa.[1]

The port is connected by its own railway line, with the erstwhile Marmagao railway station situated in its compound. It is thus connected to Maharashtra and Karnataka hinterlands via South Central Railways and Konkan Railways. MPT is connected by road by the National Highway 17A. There is a plan to connect it with a four-lane highway to the National Highway 17B, which was scheduled to be completed in October 2018.[12] Ore mined in interior regions of Goa and Karnataka is brought to MPT by barges navigating the rivers Mandovi and Zuari.[13]

Facilities
View of Mormugao Harbour from the Zuari river

MPT has berths for coal and iron ore. It also has a berth for cruise ships and even has a dedicated Cruise Terminal building, and hosts a variety of cruise ships the year-round.[14][15] It plans to expand with a dedicated multipurpose cargo berth, a general cargo berth project (to replace the ship repair yard), and dedicated berths for Navy and Coast Guard.[16]

Ore brought via barges is either collected to be loaded onto bulk carrier ships or directly loaded onto the ships using trans-shippers. Ore which is collected on the port is handled by machinery called MOHP (Mechanical Ore-Handling Plant). This includes massive bucket wheel loaders and miles of conveyor belts.[17] MPT's MOHP has now been converted to a general cargo handling berth.[18]

Adani Ports & SEZ Limited has a one-berth terminal (Berth 7) at MPT. It has a capacity of 7 MMT cargo. It can handle coal cargo, Panamax and capesize vessels. Its main feature is a mechanized material handling system of conveyor systems and stacker cum reclaimers. This system has a stacking capacity of 5000 TPH and reclaiming capacity of 2500 TPH.[19][20] Jindal South West Port Ltd has two berths, and berths 8 and 9 are currently run by Vedanta. They all mainly handle coal.[21]

Types of cargo

MPT briefly became the leading iron ore exporting port in India, with about 54.50 million metric tonnes (MMT) of iron ore traffic in 2010–11 (about 90% of this was exported to China).[22] Subsequently, the port's cargo volume dropped to 39 MMT in 2011-12, with iron ore accounting for 29.21 MMT, due to a global reduction in demand for iron ore.[2]

Berth numbers 10 and 11 of MPT are dedicated to coal handling.[23] MPT also exports managanese and bauxite.[24][25]

In 1992, berth numbers 1, 2 and 3 were decommissioned and given to Western India Shipyard Ltd. for the creation of a modern ship repair facility equipped with a floating dry dock. Berth no. 7 is a shallow drafted berth meant for shipment of coastal cargo (now given to Adani).[26]

Ships carrying naphtha, ammonium or phosphorus unload at MPT, and this is transported to Zuari Indian Oil Tanking Ltd (ZIOL), located in Zuarinagar, via tankers and pipelines. A leakage in one such pipeline caused the naphtha fire incidents of 2011.[27][28]

As of 2014, MPT's main exports were frozen fish, liquor, iron casting, pig iron and pharmaceutical products, while its main imports were of heavy melting scrap, shredded scrap, potassium carbonate and steel turning.[26]

Philanthropy

MPT Education Society runs three schools at the Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary levels, named Deepvihar.[29] MPT also plays a major role in the working of New Dawn Ashadeep School for special children. Both these institutions are located in MPT's mini-township of Headland Sada.[30]

Awards

MPT has won two prestigious awards from the Union Ministry of Shipping, for the year 2015-2016: for maximum traffic growth compared to all the major ports of the country, and for having the maximum score for RFD (Result Framework Document) implementation.[31]

See also

References
  1. Correia, Sherwyn (8 December 2018). "Mormugao Port Modernisation: Proceedings of an Environmental Public Hearing". Economic & Political Weekly. 53.
  2. Manoj, P. (5 December 2012). "India's top iron ore port hit by Goa mining ban". Livemint.
  3. "MPT seeks closure of garbage dump at Sada". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  4. "Mormugao Port Trust (MPT)". GCCI. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  5. Borges, Charles; Pereira, Oscar; Stubbe, Hannes (2000). Goa and Portugal: History and Development. New Delhi: Concept Publication Company. pp. 144–145. ISBN 8170228670.
  6. DaCosta, Murelle Maria Leonildes (2002). History of Trade and Commerce in Goa 1878-1961 (PhD in History thesis). Goa University. pp. 219–242.
  7. Nagvenkar, Harischandra Tucaram (1999). Salt and the Goan Economy: A Study of Goa's salt industry and salt trade in the 19th and 20th centuries during the Portuguese rule (PhD in Economics thesis). Goa University. pp. 196–250. hdl:10603/31915.
  8. Pinto, Eric (17 September 2013). "The Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1878 - Impact on Goa". Goanet (Mailing list). Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  9. Noronha, Frederick (28 June 2015). "Goa's Babel". The Navhind Times. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  10. Sharma, Sangita (30 January 2018). "RECLAIMING VASCO-DA-GAMA, THE PORT TOWN". The Neutral View. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  11. "MPT to salvage remnants of German ships wrecked in World War II". The Indian Express. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  12. Jha, Navin (18 August 2016). "Will 4-lane to Mormugao be a reality by Oct 2018?". oHeraldo. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  13. "High Court rejects pleas to allow ore transportation in state". The Times of India. 30 March 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  14. "Italian cruise ship brings over 1,000 visitors to Goa". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  15. "Gadkari To Inaugurate Cruise Terminal & Fishing Harbour at Vasco Tomorrow". Digital Goa. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  16. "Mormugao port in Goa lines up Rs 3,141 crore projects". The Economic Times. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  17. "Iron ore handling starts in Goa port after 18 months, Supreme Court lifts ban". KNN India - Knowledge & News Network. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  18. Tandon, Shubra (8 April 2015). "Mormugao Port Trust to come out with fresh tender for dredging project". The Financial Express. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  19. "Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited: An economic gateway for the nation". Adani.com.
  20. "APSEZ to commission coal terminal at Mormugao Port this fiscal". The Hindu: Business Line. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  21. Jamwal, Nidhi (31 August 2017). "Meet the Mega-Project That Goans Fighting 'Dirty Coal' Are up Against". The Wire. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  22. "Highest ever iron-ore exports from Goa ports this fiscal". The Economic Times. 8 September 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  23. "Mormugao Port banned from handing coal, coke". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 26 September 2012. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 December 2018.CS1 maint: others (link)
  24. "No Court Has Indicted Me In Goa Mining Scam, Says Ex-Goa Chief Minister". NDTV. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  25. "Cruising the Spice Route with Azamara: feast your senses from Dubai to Singapore". Australian Financial Review. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  26. Pradhan, Sisir. "Mormugao Port - In search of a fulcrum". The Dollar Business. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  27. "No ZIOTL ships till assurance given: MPT". The Times of India. 21 August 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  28. "After naphtha scare, MPT writes to ZIL". The Times of India. 26 August 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  29. Jha, Navin (16 September 2017). "Some Vasco schools have security measures in place, others not". oHeraldo. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  30. "First cruise liner of season arrives with 535 guests". oHeraldo. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  31. "MPT bags two prestigious awards from Union Ministry of Shipping". Navhind Times. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
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