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Visakhapatnam Port17°41′54″N 83°16′43″E / 17.69833°N 83.27861°E
Visakhapatnam Port is one of twelve major ports in India and the only major port in Andhra Pradesh. The port is India's third largest by volume of cargo handled and largest on the Eastern Coast. It is located 880 km (550 mi) from Kolkata Port and 780 km (480 mi) from Chennai Port, almost midway between the two other major ports along the coast of Bay of Bengal.[3] History Although the need for building a port on the east coast to access Central Provinces was felt by the British in the 19th century, the proposal of Col. H.Cartwright Reid of British Admiralty for constructing a harbour at Visakhapatnam was approved by the Government only after the First World War. The Inner Harbour was built by the Bengal Nagpur Railway between 1927 and 1933 to facilitate the export of manganese ore from the Central Provinces. The port was built at a cost of ₹378 lakhs.[4] The Port opened to ocean traffic with the arrival of a passenger vessel, S.S. Jaladurga of the Scindia Steam Navigation Co., on 7 October 1933[5] and was inaugurated by Lord Willingdon on 19 December 1933.[4] During the Second World War, the military significance of the port increased. After India's independence, the port witnessed growth under the various Five Year Plans. Over time, the port has grown from one with 3 berths handling 1.3 lakh tonnes per annum to one with 24 berths and annual traffic of 65 million tonnes. The port was notified as a major port in 1964 under the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963. Later Major Ports Authority Act, 2021 with this act, the Visakhapatnam Port Authorty is in charge of running the port.[4] Layout of the portThe port has two harbours: the Inner Harbour consisting of 22 berths and the Outer Harbour consisting of 8 berths and SPM. The inner harbour encompasses a water area of about 100 hectares and has three arms—northern, western, and north western—and is shared by the Port, Shipyard, and Eastern Naval Command. The northern arm is the main commercial arm of the inner harbour and has 19 berths. The western arm has three berths. The north western arm is entirely occupied by the Indian Navy. The outer harbour has a protected tranquil basin of 200 hectares surrounded by a set of breakwaters (length of 3.025 km) on the eastern, southern and northern sides of the basin. The outer harbour has eight berths, a single point mooring (SPM), and a fishing harbour. M/s.Hindustan Shipyard Ltd. and the Headquarters of Eastern Naval Command also exist adjacent to Visakhapatnam Port. The Dolphin's Nose Hill to the north of the entrance channel protects the harbour from cyclones that strike the east coast.[3][4] The port is located on the area of a creek through which the coastal river Narava Gedda joins the sea. Hinterland and cargoThe hinterland of the Visakhapatnam Port extends to north eastern Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, southern Orissa.[6] Iron ore, manganese ore, steel products, general cargo, coal and crude oil are the main commodities handled at this port.[7] VPA in Rankings
ConnectivityRail The port is connected to trunk railways directly through the railway yards to the Chennai-Howrah main lines of East Coast Railway. The port owns and operates a railway system with track length of about 186 km within port area. In 1971 the port owned 16 locomotives.[8] The entire port railway system is upgraded to the Railway standards. Electronic interlocking of lines and EI (electronic interlocking) cabin is being maintained. RoadThe Port is connected to National Highway – 16 (formerly called as NH-5) by 4 lane link road of 12 kms. developed and maintained by a SPV constituted by NHAI as a JV with VPA. Port is contemplating augmentation of the connectivity into a 6 lane road. A grade separator from H-7 area of VPA to the takeoff point of Port Connectivity Road at Convent junction separates port traffic from city traffic at Convent junction and makes vehicle transport more efficient.  Vizag International Cruise TerminalThe Vizag International Cruise Terminal is a State-of-the-art Cruise terminal with World-class infrastructure & amenities such as lounges, passenger gangways, restaurants, etc. to accommodate 2000 passenger vessels. Green Port Initiatives
Major development Activities
References
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Visakhapatnam Port. Information related to Visakhapatnam Port |
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