Archana Shukla

Mumbai: After rejecting an initial price bid from a Belgium-based dredging company on the grounds that it was too high, the state-run Cochin Port Trust has floated a fresh tender for capital dredging of its container terminal at Vallarpadam and maintenance dredging of the port.

The port is hoping to receive good response this time for its Rs 480-crore dredging project, including from Indian dredging companies. It expects lower price bids, as under the new eligibility criteria the smaller dredging companies having relevant experience would also be allowed to participate.

Besides, even with the delay of five months to start the project, the port is confident of completing the capital dredging work on schedule by November 2009. It plans to start dredging work from September 1, 2008.

Cochin Port Trust had received two bids in the initial bidding process four months back, from Belgium-based Dredging International (DI) and Indian dredging firm Jaisu Shipping.

However, only the Belgium company could qualify and had quoted Rs 800 crore for the work, which was rejected by the Port authorities.

Capt Subhash Kumar, deputy chairman, Cochin Port Trust, said, “When foreign companies see no competition, they hike their prices to take advantage of the opportunity. However, now when even the smaller Indian players are allowed to participate, the prices are likely to come down.”

Most of the dredgers globally are employed for ongoing projects or reclamation work,which has led to shortage of vessels and an opportunity for companies to raise the prices, he said.

“Since we have already gone through the selection procedure once, it would not take much time,”Kumar said. The bid submission ends on August 15, 2008.

The port is looking to deepen the approach channel of its transhipment container terminal to a varying depth of 16-18 metres from the current 14 metres for larger container vessels of 14.5 metres draft (8,000 twenty foot equivalent units, or TEUs).

Currently, the terminal can accommodate 12.5 metres draft vessels. This would help the Cochin Port increase the container handling capacity to three million TEUs.

For the year-long maintenance dredging that the Cochin Port requires due to high deposit of silt in the channels, the authorities plan to award the contract on a turn-key basis to the same contractor to avoid any disarray that may appear.

Source : DNA