Jawaharlal Nehru Port Project Bids
Fourinternational dredging companies have been shortlisted by JawaharlalNehru Port Trust (JNPT) in India to execute a project to dredge theharbour entrance channel.
It is understood that Boskalis and Van Oord of the Netherlands, and Jan de Nul and Dredging International in Belgium have been short-listed for the project, and have edged out the state owned Dredging Corporation of India (DCI).
Currently, larger vessels having a draft of 12.5m have to navigate through the Mumbai harbour channel and the JNPT channel making use of the tidal window. JNPT is planning to deepen and widen its channel in two phases. In the first phase, the channel will be dredged to 14m to accommodate container vessels of 6,000 TEU capacity, and in the second phase, the draft will be further increased to 15m.
By DAVID FOXWELL