Container Corporation of India, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, JSW Infrastructure, Rail Vikas Nigam, Dutch dredging contractor Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V, Megha Engineering and Infrastructures, Navayuga Engineering, Vishwa Samudra Holdings, and PDP International, and Essar Ports signed an Expression of Interest (EOI) to build and maintain an international container shipment port Galathea Bay in the Great Nicobar Island.
After recording the applicants’ views, the EoI will finalise the project structure and qualification criteria. Based on the responses, a Request for Proposal (RFP)/Request for Qualification (RFQ) and Draft Concession Agreement will be readied for bidding. The transhipment hub is situated on the trade route between the current terminals at Singapore, Colombo, and Klang and the feeder ports to handle large container ships and capture transhipment cargo from Indian East Coast ports, Myanmar, and Bangladesh.
The Great Nicobar Island is 40 nautical miles from the Malacca Strait international shipping channel, carrying 35 per cent of the annual global sea trade passes. The proposed facility will be able to handle vessels carrying up to 28,840 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).
