BERTHING FACILITIES

Currently Karaikal port has two berths, one for general cargo and the other for coal. The total length of both the berths is 460m and the width is 20.8 m. The handling capacity of coal is 3.0 MTPA and the cargo berth is 2.2 MTPA.

Three more berths, under development, will be the next addition to the Port. A dedicated coal berth, a liquid/general cargo berth and an OSV/PSV berth will take the cumulative capacity of the port to 20.5 MTPA. The final phase will see an addition of 2 container berths, an additional coal berth and a multi-cargo berth, taking the total to 9 berths with a cumulative handling capacity of 46.9 MPTA.

Coal Berths
The port will see the development of 2 coal berths which can handle cape size vessels (up to 120,000 DWT). The total handling capacity of the coal in the berths will be 20 MTPA. The draft availability of the berth will be (-) 15.5 meters. There will be coal grab unloader receiving conveyor, stackers, reclaimers and wagon loaders for loading coal onto railway wagons placed on railway sidings.

Edible Oil Berth
This berth will be the size of 270m x 24m. This berth should handle the capacity of 3 MTPA of edible oil. The berth can also be used for handling general cargo. The draft available in this berth will be (-) 14 meters.

OSV/PSV Berth
The OSV/PSV berth will be of length 191m and width 13.7m. This berth will be used by Offshore Supply Vessels and Petroleum Supply Vessels that operate in the Cauvery Basin. The berth can also be used for handling smaller cargo vessels.

Multi Cargo Berth
This berth will have dimensions of 207 x 24m and it will handle different type of cargos using mobile harbour cranes.. The berth is expected to handle 2 MT of cargo annually.

Container Berths
Two dedicated container berths will be of size 274m and 251m length and 30 m width. The dredged depth of these berths will be (-) 14m. The berths will be capable of handling Panamax plus vessels carrying up to 6600 TEUs. The backup area available for this berth is 126 hectares and the handling capacity of the container is expected to be 6 lacs TEU or 7.2 MTPA per berth.