MARG Limited - MARG Karaikal Port

MARG Karaikal Port

Awarded under BOT basis by the Government of Puducherry in 2006, MARG Karaikal Port is a port on the South East coast of India (Keezha Vanjore Village, Karaikal) with a sizable primary hinterland. It is the only all weather, deep water, multi- commodity port between the Chennai port & Tuticorin ports on this 680 km coastline having the advantage of being served by 4 national highways and rail connectivity through 3 private railway sidings. Notably, MARG Karaikal Port is the only port in India to have in-house logistic solutions & dredging facility.

The Port has completed development with 5 berths to handle capacity of 21 MMTPA including 2 cape size berths for handling bulk cargo, 2 pananmax size berths for general cargo & container and 1 berth dedicated for handling smaller vessels upto 25000 DWT. Phase 3 completion work which will lead to a total of 9 berths capable of handling 47 MMTPA is underway. Over 500 major vessels were berthed since commissioning of the Port.

Diversified cargo mix

MARG Karaikal port is a multi-cargo port and currently handles all types of dry cargo, in bulk and break bulk form, as well as containers and liquid cargo.

Bulk: Coal, fertilizer, sugar, gypsum, agricultural products

Break bulk: Bagged cement, bagged sugar, stell plates & pipes, project cargo

Liquid bulk: Crude oil, Edible oil, petroleum, oils & lubricants

Containers: All types

MARG Karaikal Port has earned a number of customers across cargo types like HOEC & Reliance in OSV/PSV. Krishna & Co. and Madras Cements for general cargo. Madras Cements, Chettinad Cements, India Cements, Bhatia International, Coal & Oil, Devendran Coal, JSW, MALCO, TNPL, Seshasayee Paper Boards Limited (SPBL), Dalmia Cements, Adani Enterprises for coal. Thiru Aaroon Sugars for raw sugar. South India Edible Oil for copra cake. Coromandel Fertilizers, Nagarjuna Fertilizers, Zuari for fertilizers. Nagarjuna Oil Corporation, ENI, BHEL for project cargo.

Existing cargoes are expected to increase at 5% p.a. continuously. TNEB Mettur and Nagai Power are in final stages of completion and expected to add significant volumes with certainty. Further increase in potential is expected through terminalization & setting up of industries near the port. Other non coal cargoes like fertilizers, sugar, liquid cargo, containers, iron ore, limestone, wheat, maize, edible oil, fire clay, sugar, wheat, scrap have been added and have a potential to contribute significantly to the traffic

Storage Facilities

MARG Karaikal Port has an open storage area of 6,00,000 m2 with storage capacity of 3 million tons of coal, iron ore, gypsum and general cargo. The Port is poised to handle consistent volumes of liquid cargo through 4 oil tanks with a combined capacity of 19,000 KL of which 3800 X 2 is earmarked for edible oil and 5650 X 2 for CPO.

The port has 12 closed warehouses (total area of 85,000 m2) with storage capacity of 2.25 lac tons of fertilizer, food grains, sugar, cement and other clean cargo. Also, it has a dedicated storage yard of 800 plus ground slots for containers with a capacity of 5000 TEU's.

Companies dealing in Coal, Fertilisers, Agri- Products, Liquid cargoes, Containers & LNG are keen to collaborate with MARG Karaikal Port. Terminalisation opportunities are being explored for coal terminal, liquid cum cargo terminal, LNG terminal and container terminal. An in-depth study on terminalisation modalities & possibilities is being undertaken by leading consultants.

Connectivity

MARG Karaikal Port is served by 4 national highways - NH 45, NH 67, NH 45A & NH 45C. The Port has developed 3 private railways sidings within 6 months of commencement of operations. Rail link connects the port to major manufacturing hubs of cement, steel, chemical, aluminum & textile in Ariyalur, Trichy and Salem districts. So far, over 2700 rakes of cargo were handled.

MARG Logistics Private Limited (MLPL)

MARG Logistics is a fully owned subsidiary of MARG Ltd offering logistics services to EXIM customers of the Port.

It presently offers stevedoring, transportation services & container feeder services for customers of MARG Karaikal Port.

Stevedoring Services: MARG Logistics offers stevedoring services at MARAG Karaikal port.

Road Logistics:

Container Feeder Service: Container feeder service opens up connections to the agro-industrial heartland of Central Tamil Nadu, Karaikal and Pondicherry.

Prospective business includes coal trading, coastal shipping & land logistics (coal), coastal shipping & land logistics (cotton) and logistics infrastructure.

MARG International Dredging Pte Ltd (MIDPL)

MARG ventured into dredging and established a dredging division through incorporation of its Singapore based subsidiary 'MARG International Dredging Pte Ltd', in 2009, which is an asset owning company. A backward integration to 'MARG Karaikal Port' operations, presently MIDPL has two dredgers – Cutter Suction Dredger, 'MARG Cauvery' and Trailer Suction Hopper Dredger, 'MARG Vaigai'.

MARG Cauvery is an all-welded steel non-propelled cutter section dredger suitable for harbour dredging. The dredger was built in 2007 at China. The dredger is fitted with spuds for positioning during the dredging operations. For slurry, the capacity is 2000 m3/h over a distance of 3,000 m through 750 mm nominal diameter discharge pipes. The cutter is spiral type with cutting teeth fitted on the edges. MARG Vaigai is a Trailer Suction Hopper Dredger suitable for harbour and sea dredging. The dredger was built in the year 2006 by Zhoushan Zhaobao Ship building & Repairing Co. Ltd. at China. It has an overall length of 105.6 m and hopper capacity of 5399.86 m3. Its full load displacement is 10872 MT and it has a speed of 11 knots.

Dredging Operations:

More than 20 million m3 of dredging for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of MARG Karaikal Port has been done. In addition MIDPL has completed Paradip project through sub-charter to Mercator Limited. Dredging work for other ports is also being developed. MIDPL is expanding its dredging business in Indian subcontinent and beyond with major projects already awarded being Taipei Port project, Taiwan and Mahe fishing harbour project. Other projects in pipeline are Gopalpur Project, POSCO captive Port, ILFS power plant cum captive port at Cuddalore and MARG Karaikal Port.

Mugaiyur Port

MARG Group is developing a Greenfield shipyard cum minor port near Mugaiyur in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu. The project is conceptualized as an integrated facility offering a multi-commodity cargo port and a ship repair yard at a single location.