Paradip Port

Paradip Port is a natural, deep-water port on the East coast of India in Paradip, just 53 km (33 mi) from Jagatsinghpur city in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha, India. It is located where the Mahanadi river meets the Bay of Bengal, about 210 nautical miles (390 km) south of Kolkata and 260 nautical miles (480 km) north of Visakhapatnam.

The port has facilities for handling dry and breakbulk cargo, oil, and single point mooring terminals. It mainly handles Panamax-sized carriers of 60,000–80,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) vessels, but it can also handle larger ships over 100,000 DWT. The port has a maximum depth of 16 metres (52 ft), allowing it to accommodate very large Capesize vessels up to 300 metres (980 ft) long.

Paradip Port serves the areas of Central and East India. It mainly moves bulk cargoes and crude oil, handling 150.41 million metric tonnes of cargo in the 2024–25 financial year. The port is run by the Paradip Port Authority (PPA), formerly known as the Paradip Port Trust, which is an autonomous corporation owned by the Government of India.

History

Paradip is a major port in India and the only major port in the state of Odisha. Biju Patnaik, who was the Chief Minister of Odisha, started the idea of building Paradip Port. It is located on the east coast near where the Mahanadi River meets the Bay of Bengal.

Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India at the time, placed the first stone to begin building the port on January 3, 1962. The Indian government took control of the port from Odisha's government on June 1, 1965. The port officially opened on March 12, 1966, and was later named India's eighth major port.

Port layout and infrastructure

Harbour

The Paradip Port has an artificial lagoon-type harbour protected by two rubble mound breakwaters—a north breakwater and a south breakwater. The north breakwater is 538 metres long on the north-eastern side of the port and the south breakwater is 1,217 metres long on the south-eastern side. The artificial harbour is made by digging up land along the seashore. The water in the harbour basin and turning basin is 17.1 metres deep, and the approach channel is 18.7 metres deep, allowing big ships to move easily.

Docks and Quays

Approach channel

There is a 2.2 kilometres long approach channel at the open sea used for ships to move to and from the port's harbour. The channel is 18.7 metres deep below chart datum and at least 190 metres wide, allowing ships with a draft of 15 metres to come and go without needing help from the tides. With the help of tides, the channel can handle even larger ships with a draft of up to 16 metres.

Single Point Mooring Terminals

The port has three Single Point Moorings (SPM). These are called SPM Terminal-1, SPM Terminal-2, and SPM Terminal-3. The SPM terminals can welcome tankers up to 370 m long, while the SMP terminals can handle tankers with different sizes and widths. SPM Terminal-1 can handle tankers 60 metres wide with a draft of 21 metres, SPM Terminal-2 can handle tankers 60 metres wide with a draft of 23 metres, and SPM Terminal-3 can handle tankers 65 metres wide with a draft of 23 metres. These terminals are built to handle tankers up to a maximum of 3,20,000 DWT and 80,000 DWT. The SPMs are located south of the existing port in water about 30 meters deep, around 20 kilometers from the shore, and are connected to the shore through underwater pipelines. They handle crude oil for Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), with a total ability to handle 37 MTPA each year.