Karwar: The dredging work at Baithkol Port in Karwar has been completed to facilitate the entry of large vessels after a period of six years.

 

The disruption in movement of ships had affected the revenue of the port. As huge quantity of silt was stored in the ship channel, ships were not able to carry more than 10 metric tonnes of cargo  and finally the department of ports ordered dredging in the area.The operation which lasted for three months, involved the removal of silt at a cost of Rs 33 Crore.

 

Earlier, it had become difficult for the fully loaded vessels to move near the port. Now, with the  dredging work complete big vessels can easily enter the port without any fear of getting stuck in silt.

 

The tender was allotted to Chennai-based International Seaport Dredging Private Limited (ISD) Company. In the last three months, it has removed about 1.7 million cubic metre silt from the ship channel and made a 150 metre channel to facilitate entry of ship to the port from the deep sea, port office sources revealed.

 

The 9.7 metre depth of the ship channel in the port was reduced to 5.5 metre due to silt accumulation. With the completion of dredging work, the depth has been increased to 8.5 metres. Now, the channel of 120 metre width and 2,000 metre length is free off silt. 

 

Waves, rain, river flow and pollution result in the accumulation of silt in the ship channel. Port authorities stress on the need to take up dredging work at least once in three-four years.

 

The experts from Belgium monitored the dredging operation, which involved dumping the port silt at 20 nautical miles in to the deep sea.