Post cyclone Fani, it was discovered that all the 11 navigational buoys of Paradip Port Trust had drifted out of their positions. Navigational buoys are akin to lights on an airport runway and mark the edges of the navigational channel through which ships enter the port. In their absence, ships find it difficult to set their course and move inside.
Paradip Port Trust, however, had invested in the latest ‘Harbour Pilot’ systems where pilots are armed with a laptop and a GPS device to exactly chart out the positions of the ship while on the move. The system has an accuracy deviation of only + 1 metre. In the aftermath of the cyclone, this system was put to use and ships for all berths in the port were moved inside to start cargo operations, as a result of which over 3.5 lakh tonnes of cargo was handled on May 5, 2019.
This was an achievement of the Marine Team of the Port Trust, headed by Capt. A. K. Mohapatra, DC, and Capt. A. C. Sahoo, HM, who personally oversaw the movement at the right time. This was probably the first time that maritime movement was carried out in India, during day and night, without a single navigational buoy in the channel, emphasised a release.
The Chairman, Paradip Port Trust, congratulated the team for their heroic initiative in bringing normalcy to port operations, the release added.
