Kakinada Port upbeat over increasing traffic

Kakinada: IT has been a busy year for the Kakinada anchorage port, with 2 million tonnes of cargo being handled till December, rice exports accounting for half of it.

According to Capt. A. Diwakara Rao, the Port Officer, rice exports during the first nine months had really picked up and in all probability, may touch the 2002-2003 figure of 1.5 million tonnes by the end of the fiscal. Sorghum was the new commodity being handled at the port, he added.

He said new facilities were being created and bunker barge facility would be available for ships at the anchorage for refuelling. The facility would be ready by the end of February.

The security at the anchorage port was being tightened in accordance with international norms and the whole area was being walled in.

Two high-speed patrol boats would be pressed into service and automatic identification system introduced to monitor the movement of vessels.