Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) is a port on the western coast of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, in the coastal state of

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

. Commissioned in 1885 on the site of a natural harbour, it is one of India's oldest ports. The port employs around 2,600 employees and has about 4,000 pensioners. The Mormugao Port Authority, which operates the port, is the largest employer in the Vasco region and has a complete mini-township in Headland Sada which includes schools, residential complexes and amenities (like a hospital) for employees of the Port. It was renamed from 'Mormugao Port Trust' to 'Mormugao Port Authority' in 2022.

Location

Mormugao Port is located in the town of

Mormugao Mormugao is a seaport city situated in the eponymous Mormugao taluka (municipality) of the South district, in the Goa state, India. It has a deep natural harbour and remains Goa's chief port. Towards the end of the Indo-Portuguese era in 191 ...

, Goa, India. It has a naturally protected open-type harbour, that lies on the southern part of the mouth of the river

Zuari The Zuari River ''Zuvari,'' pronounced ) is the largest river in the state of Goa, India. It is a tidal river which originates at Hemad-Barshem in the Western Ghats. The Zuari is also referred to as the Aghanashani in the interior regions. It ...

. This harbour is also protected using a

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...

and a

mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America * Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...

that was built from the outer end of the breakwater and runs parallel to the

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

History

In the 19th century, Portuguese India and

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

decided to join forces to improve maritime trade, under the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1878. Mormugao was identified as having one of the best natural harbours, and a

metre-gauge railway Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

line was constructed to connect it. The work of modernising the port and laying the metre-gauge railway was undertaken by a British company, ‘ The Western Indian Portuguese Guaranteed Railway Company’. This company was founded in Britain exclusively for this purpose. The Portuguese paid a huge sum for the project, and even paid for the registration of this company in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Work began in 1878. The harbour was commissioned in 1885, and the railway line (running till

Sanvordem Sanvordem ''Sanvodd'ddem'', pronounced ) is a census town in South Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. It is near Shiroda. Sunday is the major market day and people from the nearby areas flock to buy necessities. A few years back it was ...

, and later to Castle Rock) was inaugurated in 1887. The first ship to sail into Mormugao Port was the ''SS Westbourne'', which brought railway equipment, in April 1885. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Mormugao Harbour was the site of Operation Creek, which resulted in the bombing of a German merchant ship, ''Ehrenfels,'' which had secretly been transmitting information to

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

s. In 2017, MPA announced that it would salvage the remnants of the ship, as they were hindering the progress in a project of setting up a fishing harbour. The port was recognised as a major port in 1963 under the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963, shortly after the

Liberation of Goa The Annexation of Goa was the process in which the Republic of India annexed ', the then Portuguese Indian territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, starting with the armed action carried out by the Indian Armed Forces in December 1961. In India, ...

Transport links

The port is connected by its own railway line, with the erstwhile Marmagao railway station situated in its compound. It is thus connected to Maharashtra and

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

hinterlands via South Central Railways and

Konkan Railway The Konkan Railway (abbreviated KR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India with its headquarters at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The first passenger train ran on Konkan railway tracks on 20 March 1993, between Udupi and ...

s. MPT is connected by road by the National Highway 17A. There is a plan to connect it with a four-lane highway to the National Highway 17B, which was scheduled to be completed in October 2018. Ore mined in interior regions of Goa and Karnataka is brought to MPA by barges navigating the rivers

Mandovi The Mahadayi/Mandovi River (''Mandovi'', pronounced ), also known as Mahadayi or Mhadei river, is described as the lifeline of the Indian state of Goa. The Mandovi and the Zuari are the two primary rivers in the state of Goa. Mandovi joins w ...

and

Facilities

Goa-Vasco 03-2016 07 view to Mormugao Harbour

MPT has berths for coal and iron ore. It also has a berth for cruise ships and even has a dedicated Cruise Terminal building, and hosts a variety of cruise ships the year-round. It plans to expand with a dedicated multipurpose cargo berth, a general cargo berth project (to replace the ship repair yard), and dedicated berths for

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

and

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

. Ore brought via barges is either collected to be loaded onto bulk carrier ships or directly loaded onto the ships using trans-shippers. Ore which is collected on the port is handled by machinery called MOHP (Mechanical Ore-Handling Plant). This includes massive bucket wheel loaders and miles of conveyor belts. MPT's MOHP has now been converted to a general cargo handling berth. Adani Ports & SEZ Limited has a one-berth terminal (Berth 7) at MPA. It has a capacity of 7 MMT cargo. It can handle coal cargo, Panamax and capesize vessels. Its main feature is a mechanized material handling system of conveyor systems and stacker cum reclaimers. This system has a stacking capacity of 5000 TPH and reclaiming capacity of 2500 TPH.

Jindal South West JSW Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel producer based in Mumbai and is a flagship company of the JSW Group. After the merger of ISPAT Steel and Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Limited, JSW Steel became India's second largest private secto ...

Port Ltd has two berths, and berths 8 and 9 are currently run by

Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, t ...

. They all mainly handle coal.

Types of cargo

MPA briefly became the leading iron ore exporting port in India, with about 54.50 million metric tonnes (MMT) of iron ore traffic in 2010–11 (about 90% of this was exported to China). Subsequently, the port's cargo volume dropped to 39 MMT in 2011-12, with iron ore accounting for 29.21 MMT, due to a global reduction in demand for iron ore. Berth numbers 10 and 11 of MPA are dedicated to coal handling. MPT also exports managanese and bauxite. In 1992, berth numbers 1, 2 and 3 were decommissioned and given to

Western India Shipyard Western India Shipyard Limited is a composite ship repair company based in Goa, India. History Western India Shipyard Limited was registered in 1993 and has a dedicated composite ship repair yard at Mormugao Harbour at Goa under a 25-year licen ...

Ltd. for the creation of a modern ship repair facility equipped with a floating dry dock. Berth no. 7 is a shallow drafted berth meant for shipment of coastal cargo (now given to Adani). Ships carrying naphtha, ammonium or phosphorus unload at MPA, and this is transported to Zuari Indian Oil Tanking Ltd (ZIOL), located in Zuarinagar, via tankers and pipelines. A leakage in one such pipeline caused the naphtha fire incidents of 2011. As of 2014, MPA's main exports were frozen fish, liquor, iron casting, pig iron and

pharmaceutical products A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...

, while its main imports were of

heavy melting scrap Heavy melting steel (HMS) or heavy melting scrap is a designation for recyclable steel and wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-f ...

, shredded scrap,

potassium carbonate Potassium carbonate is the inorganic compound with the formula K2 CO3. It is a white salt, which is soluble in water. It is deliquescent, often appearing as a damp or wet solid. Potassium carbonate is mainly used in the production of soap and gl ...

and steel turning.

Philanthropy

MPA Education Society runs three schools at the Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary levels, named Deepvihar. MPT also plays a major role in the working of New Dawn Ashadeep School for special children. Both these institutions are located in MPA's mini-township of Headland Sada.

Awards

MPA has won two awards from the Union Ministry of Shipping, for the year 2015-2016: for maximum traffic growth compared to all the major ports of the country, and for having the maximum score for RFD (Result Framework Document) implementation.

References

External links

* {{Major ports in India Transport in Goa Economy of Goa Companies based in Goa Mormugao 1885 establishments in Portuguese India Transport infrastructure completed in 1885