(a) whether a huge amount of goods are exported and imported in the country through the sea route;
(b) if so, the places at the sea shores in the country where the job of loading and unloading from the ships is carried out;
(c) whether the big cargo ships have to stop in the sea miles off the shore due to less depth of sea where from small ships and boats carry the cargo to the shore; and
(d) if so, the facts in this regard and the depth of sea near the shores at these ports ?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF SURFACE TRANSPORT
( DR. DEBENDRA PRADHAN )
(a): Goods weighing 189 million tonnes were exported or imported in the country during 1998-99 through sea-route.
(b): Loading or unloading of goods on to/from the ships is carried out at various major/minor/intermediate ports in the country. The names of Major Ports in the country are as under:-
Calcutta, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Tuticorin, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mumbai and Kandla.
Minor/Intermediate ports in the country are spread over in the following Maritime States and Union Territories :-
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Orissa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshdweep.
(c)&(d): Due to draft restrictions, larger vessels cannot be berthed in some ports. In such a situations, cargo loading / unloading from such vessels is carried out in the deep sea. The cargo from / to the shore is brought with the help of smaller vessels/barges.
The minimum depth of Entrance Channel to various Major Ports is as follows:-
(In meters)
Calcutta} 6.7 Haldia } Paradip 12.8 Visakhapatnam Inner Harbour 10.7 Outer Harbour 17.5 Chennai Inner Harbour 18.6 Outer Harbour 19.2 Tuticorin 10.4 Cochin 11.8 New Mangalore 15.4 Mormugao 13.7 J.L.Nehru 11.0 Mumbai 10.9 Kandla 4.3 Vadinar 23.5