Posted on March 22, 2018
The private multi-port operator, Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Ltd (AVPPL), tasked to build the superstructure and operate the country’s first international multi-purpose deepwater seaport project at Vizhinjam has approached Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd. (VISL) for seeking more time for commissioning the Phase I.
Citing the damage to the two heavy duty dredgers, access road-cum-shore protection bund, rock bund, pile and bracing during the Ockhi cyclone in November last year and the shortage of granite needed for construction of the 3.1 km breakwater, the private multi-operator of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. (APSEZ) has sought more time for completion of the Phase I.
The 1,000 days target announced by AVPPL after signing the concession agreement for the project is to end in December 2019 though a four-year deadline had been fixed in the pact signed in August 2015. A spokesman of the AVPPL confirmed to The Hindu on Monday that the correspondence with the VISL for extending the time frame of Phase I had commenced.
The move is based on the letter of the Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contractor Howe Engineering Projects Pvt. Ltd. to AVPPL citing the direct impact on the project schedule and the contract cost in the wake of the damages due to Ockhi cyclone.
The dredging has come to a standstill as the two dredgers suffered heavy damages in the cyclone and had to be shifted for repair work in the Kattampally and Kochi dockyard. The Shantisagar X needs at least six to eight months of repair.
The EPC contractor has pointed out that large-scale restoration work is needed to make approach suitable for the movement of equipment and material and at least two months is needed. Efforts are on to restore approach partially to start piling work at reduced productivity, the EPC contractor said in the letter. Although the AVPPL is taking steps to mobile machinery, sources said the dredging was likely to resume in September after the coming monsoon.
The Independent Engineer has to take a call on various aspects and there will be no financial commitment for the government, official sources added.
Source: The Hindu
