Sical's coal handling facility at Ennore Port

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, FEB.3. The fast coming up state-of-the-art coal handling facility of South India Corporation (Agencies) Ltd. at the newly- commissioned Ennore satellite port will go on stream from May.

Disclosing this at a function got up to mark the arrival of couple of modern cranes at the port site, Mr.Tony Adams, Managing Director of the company, indicated that the pre-commissioning work would be over by April, now that the cranes had arrived.

Mr. Adams said the installation of these cranes would go a long way in`re-defining bulk handling' in the sub-continent.

The two equipment - costing close to Rs. 80 crores, excluding duty - were fabricated by Samsung Heavy Industries at its Koje shipyard in South Korea. Sical is investing close to Rs. 100 crores in the project. The unloaders can handle 2000 tonnes of coal each per hour.

It may be recalled that SICAL had successfully landed the TNEB (Tamil Nadu Electricity Board) contract for coal handling at Ennore port against global competition. The contract is given on a BOT (build, operate and transfer) basis for 20 years.

These cranes are capable of discharging 40,000 tonnes of coal a day from gearless Panamax vessels, being chartered by Poompuhar Shipping Corporation on behalf of TNEB. After discharge, the coal will be moved to thermal station via conveyors, making the entire process a mechanised one.

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Section  : Business
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