Port of Kolkata transports LPG relief from ship to ship to Sandheads, Energy News, ET EnergyWorld

Calcutta: For the first time, the Port of Calcutta successfully managed BPCL’s Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) Ship-to-Ship Lightening (STS) operation at Sandheads, a port official said. The port of Syama Prasad Mookerjee said the very first LPG STS operation on the Indian coast was undertaken by Bharat Petroleum on October 15 and 23,051 MT of cargo was transferred to the daughter ship within 17 hours.
The mother ship, MT Yushan, with a cargo of 44,551 MT, carried out Operation STS with the daughter ship, MT Hampshire, at Sandheads.
For BPCL, this ship-to-ship lightening operation under Haldia Dock System will save time of 7 to 9 days and of 3 50,000 USD (approximately Rs 2.6 crore) per trip.
Instant STS operations are expected to unlock new business potential not only for the country’s oldest major river port, but also benefit trade and the country as a whole in terms of substantial currency savings, Port Chairman Vinit Kumar said. .
Single port handling would not only overcome draft restrictions at Haldia, eliminating dead cargo, but would also help mobilize more cargo by lowering unit costs, he said.
LPG imports from the port have more than doubled over the past five years.