TEAM HERALD
VASCO: Tourists visiting Goa may find it unusual to see Coast Guard and Naval vessels sharing space with cruise liners at the new cruise liner berth of the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT).
This is because, the MPT has decided to lease out over one-third of the cruise liner berth to the Coast Guard and the Navy for a period of 10 years.
The Coast Guard base in Goa will now station its vessels at the newly constructed cruise liner terminal, after being compelled to anchor its vessels in the deep sea in the absence of adequate space onshore.
According to the plans, 250-metres of the cruise liner berth will be allotted to the defence vessels, while the remaining 450-metres will be earmarked for cruise liners.
With this deal, the Coast Guard, which conducts surveillance of the coast and other search-rescue operations along and beyond Goa’s coast, will now be in a position to anchor two of its ships at the harbour.
Speaking to Herald, Indian Coast Guard DIG Manoj Baadkar pointed out that in the absence of berthing facilities in the port, the Coast Guard had been forced to anchor its ships in the deep sea.
“But with MPT granting our request to berth Coast Guard vessels at the port, it will be easier for the Coast Guard to immediately dispatch its vessels for search and rescue missions,” informed Baadkar.
“Within a year, we will procure two ships to tackle any emergencies along Goa’s coastline and this will make things much easier, as we used earlier send our distress calls either to Mumbai or Bangalore during any emergency,” he added.
When contacted, MPT Chairman P Mara Pandiyan said it was a long-pending demand of the Indian Coast Guard to allot them berthing space at the harbour.
“MPT has constructed a 450-metre long berth at the breakwaters to accommodate cruise liners and an additional 250 metres of the berth will be allotted to coast guard and naval vessels. This berthing facility for the Coast Guard and Navy will be on a lease for 10 years,” said Pandiyan.
Asked to justify the MPT’s decision to allow defence vessels to use over one-third of the cruise liner berth originally planned for cruise liners, Pandiyan replied: “The 450-metre long berth allotted to cruise liners is long enough and can easily accommodate two cruise liners at any given time. We normally get around 1-2 ships in a month and since the remaining space is idle. Hence, we decided to allot the space to the defence forces.
