Requirement of Volume of Dredging and Capacity Enhancement of

Dredgers in India

Presented by ,

Jishnu Saji

Asso.Prof Jose Prasobh

Prof. Satheesh Babu

Dept. Of Naval Architecture & Ship Building ,

SNGCE

ABSTRACT

Dredging is the sub aqueous or underwater excavation of rocksand soil.

The purpose of this research was to analyse the present volumeof dredging in India and to identify the actual requirement ofdredging volume and the dredging fleet in India.

The first phase of the study involved the identification of actualamount of capital and maintenance dredging being undertaken inIndia and the present available fleet of dredgers in the Public andprivate sector.

The second phase involved the study on how various players getinto this business and the final phase involves possible strategicmethods of improving the capacity and meeting the dredgingrequirement.

A possible alliance between the dredging majors with the help ofgovt. policies aiming in capacity creation for undertakingcommercial dredging activities are also presented.

OVERVIEW OF DREDGING IN INDIA

Indian ports are under rapid expansion and hence the requirement of dredging inIndia has also shooting up and will be everlasting.

In India ,the main market is for maintenance dredging rather than capital dredging.The size of Indian dredging industry is estimated to be of around INR 20,000 Crore.The Indian Maritime Agenda 2020 focuses on to invest INR 200 billion on dredging .The Indian dredging industry propagates through extreme challenges.Recent changes in the dredging policies has slowly paved in way for private

participation in the dredging sector.The government’s policies are in a way of favouring DCI (Dredging Corporation Of

India).In India, there are around 16 ministries and departments that oversee policies

concerning the seas which exclude Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard under MoD.These ministries has not yet come together & worked together to achieve a commongoal, a major reason being the huge difference in their core-competence.

The drafts at major ports has been historically low and the improvement of draftwas not in pace with the advancements taking place in criterion of port trends, shipsizes advancement. Etc.

Greenfield ports in India has also increased the requirement of dredging.

PORT Draft at Channel

(in mts)

Available Drafts at

Berths

Kolkata 7.9 7.1 to 13.7

Haldia 6.7 Vary with tidal variations

Paradip 12.8 11 to 13.5

Vishakhapatnam 10.7(IH) ,20(OH) 9.75 to 17

Chennai 18.6(IH) ,19.2(OH) 8.5 to 17.4

Tuticorin 10.4 8.6 to 10.9

Cochin 12.8 9.14 to 12.5

New Mangalore 15.4 7 to 14

Mormugao 14.4 12 to 14.1

Mumbai 10.9 6.1 to 14.3

Jawaharlal Nehru 11 12 to 13.5

Kandla 11.6 ,23.5(OOT) 9.1 to 12.5

Drafts at major Indian ports

A total quantity of around 675.25 MCM and 429.99 MCM was planned for capital and maintenancedredging in Indian ports. (I.e. Planned Net total =1105.24 MCM) But, only 278.93 MCM and 291.63CM were achieved under the same entities. (Net Total Achieved = 570.25 MCM) i.e only 51.591% ofthe planned volume was achieved.

The reason for this failure in achievement of target rates can be attributed to factors like poorresponse from the involved bidders, improper engineering surveys on deciding the type of dredging tobe done, environmental considerations, finance shortage etc.

The non-major ports has done capital dredging works better than major ones. I.e. Around 46.88 % oftheir target alone in capital dredging was achieved by non-major ports as compared to the figure of31.96% by major ones on the same.

0 10 20 30

Kolkata

Haldia

Paradip

Vishakhapatnam

Chennai

Tuticorin

Cochin

New Mangalore

Mormugao

Mumbai

Jawaharlal Nehru

Kandla

Drafts at berth drafts at channel

PRESENT VOLUME AND ACTUAL REQUIREMENT OF DREDGING IN INDIA

The present dredging volume as well as the targeted volume at major ports of India are summarised in MCM in the Table below.

There is no capital dredging going on at Kolkata, New Mangalore, JNPT.Presently ,India’s largest container port JNPT ensures berthing at high tide.

This will give rise to economic loss to parties involved ,also more time spent on outer sea anchorage will give rise to marine shell growth.

Indian ports must ensure a standard 14 m draft and be able to handle post- Panamax sized vessels.

PRESENT FLEET OF DREDGERS IN INDIAThe major fleet of Dredgers in Public sector India is owned by The DCI.

At present DCI operates 12 TSHDs, 3 CSDs and 1 Backhoe Dredger in India. So, the total fleet of dredgers owned by DCI is 16.

Among the private players, Jaisu Shipping Co. Pvt Ltd, Kandla owns the largest number of dredgers.

Major private owners

jaisu shipping co.

M Pallonji & Co. Ltd.

Maldar dredging

Sahara Dredging

Dharti Dredging & construction

Other Companies

OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRIVATE PLAYERS AND ALLIANCES

Compared to that of the 1990s and 2000s , dredging market in India has opened up to private participants.

From April 2004 , all major ports except Kolkata are supposed to open their dredging contracts for competitive bid.

Previously , a mega dredging alliance was proposed between CSL ,JNPT ,MbPT ,SCI. This project was sacked later due to various reasons.The alliance was accounted for an investment of INR 33 Crore in the first year and was supposed to increase in the coming years, profit was estimated only from the 3rd year since it’s inception.

Presently , SCI alone looks to join hands with a private player with good expertise and engage in dredging activities.

For a private player, participation in the call of tenders comes up only if they can qualify and for that you need to tie up with an established player to fulfil the pre-qualification criterion.

Indian Private players doesn’t actually need to face a competition from foreign firms, as Indian local players are able to provide dredgers at low cost.

If private players are able to forecast some new technology which promotes environment friendly dredging as well as efficient dredging in lower costs ,that will be an addendum to their growth and entry in to the market. Also their capabilities will be foreseen with priority.

In India , policies associated with dredging is constituted by 16 ministries & depts. of the Govt. Of

India .Indian Navy & Coastguard is not included from this as they report directly to Ministry of

Defence. The Govt. of India’s new dredging policy & forward looking statement as per the

Indian Maritime Agenda 2020 promises to encourage private competition in this field. [3]

The existing dredging policy guidelines issued by Ministry Of Shipping are as under: [4], [5]

1. All the major ports shall invite open competitive bids for dredging works and Indian companies

owning Indian flagged dredgers, including DCI shall have the right of first refusal if the rate is

within 10% of the lowest valid offer available. This will apply to both maintenance and capital

dredging works with sole exception of the maintenance dredging requirement of Kolkata Port

for which separate instructions may apply.

2. If more than one company owning Indian flag dredger participates in the tender, the right of

first refusal will go to that Indian company which has quoted the lowest of all the rates and is

within 10% of the lowest valid offer put up in that tender.

3. All major ports may strictly adhere to the guidelines issued by the CVC from time to time for

processing tenders in a transparent manner. Ports may ensure that some sort of a pre-

qualification criterion is fixed in advance and it should not be very stringent to restrict the entry

of certain potential Indian bidders.

4. The Government of India through MoS reserves the right to assign, in public interest, any

contract for dredging work in any of the major ports to DCI on nomination.

5. Guidelines issued by DG (Shipping), Mumbai from time to time in terms of the relevant

provisions of Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 shall be applicable.

GOVT. OF INDIA’S POLICIES ON DREDGING

HR EMPOWERMENT AND R&D IN THE INDIAN DREDGING INDUSTRY

A major drawback in the Indian dredging industry is trained manpower. Some investment shouldhappen in the HR development .Research and development activities should also beencouraged.

Some training institute with their core academia being on dredging related courses may be setup. This institutes may impart training and skill enhancement to the people in the sector andalso may exclusively mould workforce .

In the future ,such training institutes will become a definite requirement to a coastal nation likeIndia , Such an institute may be in collaboration with already proven maritime institutes.

The youth should be motivated to take up a career in dredging ,especially the engineers in themaking by setting up dredging museums ,career orientation rallies.etc.

R&D in Dredging

Research & Development in the dredging sector is mainly an untouched field in India.

There has to be some research on the dredged slurry’s mechanics ,hydrodynamics ,it’stransport ,the pumps used , lubrications etc.

There has to be research onto determine the properties of the dredged slurry like it’scompressive strength ,salinity ,future use prospects etc.

There can be research done on the post & pre-survey techniques , economic ,environmentalfriendly and innovative dredging techniques etc.

LNG as an alternative clean burning fuel has been tested on tugs, ice-breakers and merchantships but not on a dredger in India ,some research should also be conducted on this area asLNG is a clean burning fuel.

EXTENSION OF DREDGING IN INDIAApart from the core dredging activities , there is lot of associated activities with good

business scope.

Dredging may be extended to sub-strata mining. There may be reserves of manganeseetc. in the sub-strata of underwater portion ,the possibility of it’s extraction has to beestimated.

Some kind of investment has to be laid on the canal-river dredging as once it is properlydredged to obtain a good draft, this will enhance the cheaper mobility of goods.

One of the major problem faced in India is the disposal of the dredged spoil.If it’s hazardous ,it can’t be simply disposed.Some laboratory tests has to be conducted to determine it’s particle size , compressivestrength ,salinity ,solid density etc.Basically, the saline content of this spoil will be high. If it’s treated using suitablemethods , it may be used up for the cheaper manufacture of good class of bricks.

The possibility of artificial islands has to be assessed with good interest. The creation ofartificial islands will enhance the capital dredging requirements.But the creation of artificial islands will have an impact on the ecology in various ways.Thus ,it has to be done in environmental friendly manner.

There can be supportive industries to perform dredger vessel’s equipment’soverhauling and mass repairs as the docking parties of these dredging vessels maylapse the technology/skill to repair the dredging equipments.

POSSIBLE METHODS OF INCREASING DREDGING CAPACITY IN INDIA

There is a need to formulate dredging contracts in a manner that clearly specifies responsibilities of the parties involved in it and this will bring more participations.

The developmental activities of the ports faces delays , due to technical and legal reasons. The definition of dredging in the rules must be changed in a favourable way.

Some research should be done in order to improve present technology used in dredging like use of jet pumps instead of traditional methods to reduce costs by around 60 %.

Indian shipyards do lack a good technical know-how on dredger construction. Some investment should be laid on to improve the knowledge and capability of Indian shipyards to build dredgers indigenously and there is a significant market existing for Indian shipbuilders in this area due to their cost competitiveness. Also, there has to be a change in the policy on patenting of the dredging equipment in India.

There is a good possibility of a collaboration of ship builders, ship designers, dredging equipment designers and manufacturers, Hydraulic machinery manufacturers, DCI, MoS and many dredging associations etc. Such collaborations will result in huge productivity as the weaknesses of each of them will be covered by the potential of the other members in the coalition.

Above all , Indian dredging market has to change in to one that requires good amount of capital dredging , presently it’s maintenance dredging oriented.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS ON THE FUTURE DREDGING

REQUIREMENTBased on the requirement of dredging volume assessed by the govt. , further statistical

analysis was conducted on the data and the expected volume of dredging required in the

major ports are as below.

PORT 2012-2017 : TOTAL FORECASTING 2017-18

CAPITAL MAINTENANCE CAPITAL MAINTENANCE

KOLKATTA 20.88 111 0 21.6

PARADIP 14.85 30 6.91 6

VIZAG 15.35 3.75 5.944 0.75

CHENNAI 16.65 6 -0.525 1.2

TUTICORIN 27.48 2.673

COCHIN 9.5 90 5.675 18

NEW MANGALORE 4.5 30.5 3.56635 6.4

MORMUGAO 14 20 3.4 4

MUMBAI 9.45 21.5 0.24 7

JNPT 54.75 18.9 3.75 6.3

KANDLA 15.1 45.5 3.89 13.3

ENNORE 17.5 3 -0.4 0.6

INDIAN NAVY 1.1 24.1 -0.29 5.12

TOTAL 221.11 404.25 34.8334 90.27

It was noted that there is a total increase of 9 % in the total capital and 4.21 % in the Total maintenance dredging in 2017-18 as compared that in 2016-17.

CONCLUSIONS• Dredging, if employed in the proper way, it can remove subaqueous pollutants and

improve water quality. • Around 30 % of the costs for setting up a new port can be attributed to dredging. • The present volume is 46.83 % less than targeted volume as per the 12th 5 year plan. • Continuous maintenance dredging is required as there is always a threat from the

siltation patterns in Indian ports possibly making the channels too shallow for navigation.

• Over the next years, the dredging requirements in India is huge & this can be met by emergence of newer companies and alliances .

• Also, environment friendly and sustainable dredging should be encouraged. • Some investment should be laid onto human resource empowerment and research &

development in the field of dredging. The policies at present are highly favourable to DCI’s protection as a public sector organisation.

• In order for the private dredging players in India grow to the level of being global dredging giants, some good incentives are needed for them from the Govt. side like speedy clearances etc.

• Also, Indian shipbuilders should make some initiatives and put some investment for focussing onto construction of dredgers.

• Hoping for a dredging revolution ,

Hoping for a revolution

THANK YOU