Industrial Visit - Chennai Port

We see the Sea

Rtr. Vivek, Rtr. Lokesh and Rtr. Mervyn (Club’s P.R.O.) represented the Rotaract Club of Loyola College for a field visit organized by its parent club, Rotary Club of Madras. The visit was to the 129 yr. old Chennai Port Trust Headquarters, as part of the project headed by Rtn. Vivek Harinarayanan, Director - Vocational Services, Rotary Club of Madras.

We assembled the Taj Connemara Hotel from where we ventured out for a visit to Chennai Port Trust. We reached the destination at 1:00pm wherein we were guided to the conference hall. Everybody sat and whence we introduced ourselves to the rest.

After the introductions were done, 2 officials from Chennai Port Trust guided us through a presentation which highlighted the history of Chennai Port Trust. The presentation also spoke about Chennai as the Hub-port and about the economics of Chennai Port Trust.

Chennai Port Trust handles import, export and other sea-oriented affairs for states like Karnaka, Kerala, A.P. and parts of Maharashtra. Chennai is also called a hub-port because many imports-exports are done by various ports via Chennai Port Trust. In 2009-2010, Chennai Port Trust handled 61.6million tones of cargo. Chennai Port Trust deals with export of iron-ore, coal, etc. and is focused on cargo and containers handling too.

At present, Chennai Port Trust handles 28% of import and 36% export of the country. Of the 13 major ports scattered throughout India, Jawaharlal Nehru Port and Chennai Port Trust hold prominence. In the last 5 years, US invested $100mn on Chennai Port Trust. There are 4 C’s in Chennai Port Trust namely Car, Cargo, Container and Cruise. One of the appraising facts is that the Jawahar Dock is the deepest Dock in India.

After the presentation met its end, we were flabbergasted when Rtn. Vivek informed us quite enthusiastically that we will be literally venturing in the sea. He said, “The weather is rough, but not rough enough for the sea-venture to be cancelled”. So, in about 10 minutes in car, we reached the terminus of Dr. Ambedkar Dock where a ship was waiting for us. We all walked in and the ship left the terminus. When I saw a container ship, I realized what “I am speechless” means..! I could do nothing but watch the cargo fleets and cranes of behemoth sizes. We were served refreshments. We went up to the Jawahar Dock and came back to the point where we started. The weather was too rough for a sojourn in the open ocean. From Jawahar Dock, The Chief Secretariat was lucidly seen. I saw the horizon and I felt as if the ocean had her hands wide-spread, ready to embrace me..!

We came back and we had some more refreshments. From there we recalled our path to the Chennai Port Trust H.Q. and whence the fleet of Rotarians and Rotaractors left to the vantage point, Taj Connemara Hotel.

The visit was enthralling..! And there are no words to describe the size of the ships..!

-Rtr. Vivek Kumar Dadhich