Tuticorin port poised for handling more logs

Two sets of hydraulic grabs and specially-designed loaders have been commissioned at the Tuticorin port to handle logs, for the first time.

A. Subbiah, Deputy Chairman of Tuticorin Port Trust, said that the equipment were procured by St John’s Freight Systems, Tuticorin, in line with the decision taken at the port safety committee meeting recently.

According to him, these machines would bring about a sea change in the handling of logs by ensuring safety of dock workers, besides improving the productivity by leaps and bounds. The mechanised handling system would facilitate quick turnaround time of ships and attract more volume of logs and timber through the port, he said.

T. Johnson, Managing Director, St John’s Freight Systems, said that the equipment were imported at a cost of Rs. 3 crore. While the hydraulic grabs were acquired from Germany, the loaders were purchased from Sweden.

“We plan to handle about 4,000 tonnes of logs on an average a day, registering 125 percent increase over the manual handling techniques,” Mr Johnson said.