TRANSIT SHEDS AND

APRONS

Transit shed: As the name suggests, it is a shed for

goods in transit from the vessel to the consignees or from consignors to the vessel.

For export cargo, to facilitate the quick loading cargo is first brought to a transit shed and collected there.

In case of import cargo, it is not possible to clear all the destinations by railway and trucks. In fact for general cargo, verification of marks, quantity and safe delivery makes it necessary to take this cargo to a temporary covered storage, thus for a temporary storage, a covered arrangement is called a transit shed.

These sheds are single or double storied in height. The floor area is being used for handling and distributing the incoming and out going cargo requiring protection.

A transit shed is a necessary facility attached to a berth. Thus a port does not change any rent for its use for a period, generally 3 to 5 days. Beyond this period “demurrage” is charged. The idea of charging demurrage is to discourage the use of a transit shed beyond the free period allowed in order that the space can be used for other cargo and thus more cargo could be handled at the berth.

Factors influencing the size of the transit shed: Nature of cargo, height of its staking and

allowance for movement and other non storage areas.

Size of the vessels Length of the transit shed: The length of the shed provides covered

space opposite to the entire length of the biggest vessel for which a berth is designed. The idea is to provide quick access from all hatches. For a unit length of 180m, the shed length is suggested as 165m, This leaves space for end access roadway to apron and shed floor.

Width of the transit shed: The width of the transit shed is

determined by the area. The minimum width of the shed should not be less than 50m.

Apron: To expedite the unloading and

loading of cargo in vessels, some open space is left immediately in front of the berth. This open space is known as Apron.

The apron is utilized for the installation of mechanical devices as cranes and transport agencies as railway track and road for trucks for the efficient handling of the cargo.

Dimensions of Apron: The width of a apron should be

kept depending upon the following factors:

Width should be kept to a minimum necessary for contemplated operations.

The cost of construction of the facility should be minimum.

To save the time of travel the carriage of cargo to and from the ship and transit house or shed.

For general cargo public terminals, the width of apron is suggested as follows:

The plate width of 9m is sufficient. This width includes single apron rail track.

For two apron rail track 12m is necessary. For half portal gantry crane add 1.5m to the

width in (b) and 3m for full portal crane. Thus the apron width with two rail

tracks and a full portal crane should not be less than 15m.

In general the apron width usually varies from 10m for ports with light traffic to 25m for direct birthing ports with heavy traffic.