UNIT-5 (HARBOUR NGINEERING)

Water Transport Harbors and ports, Types of Harbours; Harbours - layouts, shippin glanes, anchoring, location identification;
Littoral transport with erosion and deposition; sounding methods; Dry and Wet docks, components and operational
Tidal data and analyses. Inland waterways: advantages and disadvantages;Development in India. Inland water operation.

Water transportation

The water transportation can further be subdivided into two categories:

 inland transportation and
 Ocean transportation. InlandWater
transportation
 Inland Water transportation is either in the form of river transportation orcanal transportation.
 Ocean Water transportation is adopted for trade and commerce.
 It is estimated that about 75 per cent of international trade is carried outby shipping.
 The development of navy force is intended for national defense.
 Ocean water transportation has an limitation and it possesses high flexibility.

Definitions Harbours:
 A harbour can be defined as a sheltered area of the sea in which vessels could be launched, built or taken for
repair; or could seek refuge in time of storm; or provide for loading and unloading of cargo and passengers.
Harbours are broadly classified as:
 Natural harbours
 Semi-natural harbours
 Artificial harbours. Natural harbours:
 Natural formations affording safe discharge facilities for ships on sea coasts, in the form of creeks and
basins, are called natural harbours.
 With the rapid development of navies engaged either in commerce or war, improved accommodation and
facilities for
repairs, storage of
cargo and
connected
amenities had to
be provided in
natural harbours.
 The size and draft
of present day
vessels have
necessitated the
works
improvement for
natural harbours.
 The factors such
as local geographical features, growth of population, development of the area, etc. have made the natural
harbours big and attractive. Bombay and Kandla are, examples of natural harbours
Semi-natural harbours:
Page 1
  This type of harbour is protected on sides by headlands protection and it requires man-made protection
only at the entrance.
 Vishakhapatnam is a semi-natural harbour

Artificial harbours:
 Where such natural facilities are not available, countries having a seaboard had to
create or construct such shelters making use of engineering skill and methods, and
such harbours are called artificial or man-made harbours.

 Madras is an artificial harbour.

 Thus, a naval vessel could obtain shelter during bad weather within a tract or area of
water close to the shore, providing a good hold for anchoring, protected by natural or
artificial harbour walls against the fury of storms
Page 2
From their utility and situation, harbours are further classified into three major
types:
 Harbours of refuge including naval bases
 Commercial harbours, connected with ports
 Fishery harbours.
It is necessary to study the requirements of these types of harbours and provide
for such requirements.
Requirements of harbour of refuge:
 Ready accessibility
 Safe and commodious anchorage
 Facilities for obtaining supplies and repairs

Requirements of commercial harbour:

 Spacious accommodation for the mercantile marine.
 Ample quay space and facilities for transporting; loading and
unloading cargo.
 Storage sheds for cargo.
 Good and quick repair facilities to avoid delay.

 More sheltered conditions as loading and unloading could be done

with advantage in calmer waters.
Accessibility and size of harbours
 Accessibility depends on the location of the harbours.
 The harbour entrance should be designed and located for quick easy
negotiation by ships, overtaken by storms.
 At the same time, it should be narrow enough not to expose the harbour to the
effects of the stormy sea.
 Maximum dimensions upto 180 have been adopted
 The entrance is generally placed of the sea, with a passage to the interior of
the harbour so arranged as to minimize the effect of rough seas.
Thus; the size is determined by:
 Accommodation required.
 Convenience for maneuvering and navigation.
 Adaptability to natural features.

Site selection:
The guiding factors which play a great role in choice of site for a harbour are as
follows
 Availability of cheap land and construction materials
 Transport and communication facilities
 Natural protection from winds and waves
 Industrial development of the locality
 Sea-bed subsoil and foundation conditions
 Traffic potentiality of harbour
Page 3
  Availability of electrical energy and fresh water
 Favorable marine conditions
 Defence and strategic aspects

Shape of the harbour:

The following principles should be kept in mind:
 In order to protect the harbour from the sea waves, one of the pier heads
should project a little beyond the other.
 Inside the pier heads, the width should widen very rapidly.
 The general shape of the harbours should be obtained by a seriesof
straight lengths and no re-entrant angle should be allowed
Harbour planning:
The important facts to be studied and scrutinized can be enumerated as follows:
 It is necessary to carry out a thorough survey of the neighbourhood including the
foreshore and the depths of water in the vicinity
 The borings on land should also be made so as to know the probable subsurface
conditions on land. It will be helpful in locating the harbour works correctly
 The nature of the harbour, whether sheltered or not, should be studied.
 The existence of sea insect undermine the foundations should be noted.
 The problem of silting or erosion of coastline should be carefully studied.
 The natural metrological phenomenoa should be studied at site especially with respect
to frequency of storms, rainfall, range of tides, maximum and, minimum temperature
and of winds, humidity, direction and velocity of currents, etc.
Ports:
 The term port is used to indicate a harbour where terminal facilities, such a stores,
landing of passengers and cargo, etc. are added to it.
 Thus, a harbour consists of the waterways and channels as far as the pier head lines
and a port includes everything on the landward side of those lines i.e. piers, slips,
wharves, sheds, tracks, handling equipment, etc.
Classification of ports:
Depending upon the location, the ports can be classified as;
 Canal ports
 River ports and
 Sea ports
 The term free port is used to indicate an isolated, enclosed and policed area
for handling of cargo; etc. for the purpose of reshipping without the
intervention of customs.
 It is furnished with the facilities for loading and unloading; for storing goods
and reshipping them by land or water; and for supplying fuel.
 Free port thus indicates an area within which goods can be landed, stored,
mixed, blended, repacked, manufactured and reshipped without payment of
duties and without the intervention of custom department.
 Depending upon the commodities dealt with or their use, the ports can also be
classified as grain ports, coaling ports, transhipment ports, ports of call, etc.
 Depending upon the size and location, the ports can also be grouped as major
ports, intermediate ports and minor ports
 A major port is able to attract trade and it commands a really pivoted position
Page 4
 for the extension of communications.
Port design:
The design of a port should be made while keeping in mind the following requirements:
 The entrance channel should be such that the ships can come in and go out easily.
 The ships should be able to turn in the basin itself.
 The alignment of quays should be such that the ships can come along side easily even
when there is an on-shore wind.
 The width behind the quay should be sufficient to deal with the goods.
 There should be enough provision for railway tracks to take care for loading and
unloading of cargo.
Requirements of a good port
 It should be centrally situated for the hinterland. For a port, the hinterland is that part

of the country behind it which can be served with economy and efficiency by the port.
 It should get good tonnage i .e. charge per tonne of cargo handled by it.
 It should have good communication with the rest of country.
 It should be populous
 It should be advance in culture, trade and industry.
 It should be a place of defence and for resisting the sea-borne invasion
 It should command valuable and extensive trade.
 It should be capable of easy, smooth and economic development.
 It should afford shelter to all ships and at all seasons of the years
 It should provide the maximum facilities to all the visiting ships including the
servicing of ships.
TIDES AND WAVES:
Some of the natural and meteorological phenomena which primarily affect the location and
design of the harbour.
They are as follows:
 Coastal currents and evidences of sitting, including littoral drift or coast erosion.
 Tides and tidal range.
 Wind, wave and their
combined effect on
harbour structures.
Tides:
 Tides on the coast-line are
caused by the sun and
moon.
 The effect of tides is to
artificially raise and lower
the mean sea level during
certainstated periods.
 This apparent variation of
mean sea level is known as the tidal range. Spring tides and Neap tides:
 At new and full moon or rather a day or two after (or twice in each lunar month), the
tides rise higher and fall lower than at other times and these are called Spring tides.
 Also one or two days after the moon is in her quarter i.e. about seven days from new
and full moons (twice in a lunar month), the tides rise and fall less than at other times
Page 5
 and are then called neap tides.
Waves and wind:
 The ‘sea wave’ is by far the most powerful force acting onharbour barriers and
against which the engineer has to contend.
 The wave has the impulse of a huge battering ram and equipped with the point of
a pick axe and chisel edge”.
 It is the most in compressible natural phenomena.
 The formation of storm waves takes place in the open sea due to the action of
wind.
Water waves are of two kinds:
 Waves of oscillation and
 Waves of

translation;
 The former are stationary, while the latter possess forward motion.
 But all translatory waves originally start as waves of oscillation

Page 6
 and, become translatory by further wind action.
 The harbour engineer’s main concern is the translatory wave.

Breakwaters:
 The protective barrier constructed to enclose harbours and to keep the harbour waters
undisturbed by the effect of heavy and strong seas are called breakwaters.
Alignment:
 A good alignment for a
breakwater is to have
straight converging arms
so that theangle of inter
section does not exceed 60
degrees.
 It is desirable to avoid
straight parallel or diverging arms
running out to sea. Design of
breakwaters:
Following information should he
collected before the design of a
breakwater:
 Character of coastal
currents
 Cost and availability of
materials of construction
 Directions and force of
prevailing winds
 Nature of the bottom or foundation
 Probable maximum height, force and intensity of waves. !
The three important rules to be observed in the design of a breakwater are as under:
 The design should be based on the extreme phenomena ofthe wind and
waves, and not on the mean or the average.
 The height of the wave should he determined by Using the equation
H = 034¥Fand the height of wall should be decided accordingly by making
sufficient allowance for freeboard.
 It should be seen that the material in the foundation is not subject to scour.

Page 7
Detrimental forces acting on breakwaters:
Hydrostatic force:
 This force reduces the apparent weight and hence, the marine structures suffer these
losses to a great extent unless the foundations are absolutely impervious.
External forces:
 The intensity of external forces, especially wind and wave action, is enormous.
 The power of wind produces vibrations in the masonry structure and weakens the
different courses of masonry.
 In a similar way, the wave when it recedes induces ‘suction action and it results in the
erosion of the foundation unless it is made safe and secure.

Solvent action of sea water:

 This quality of sea water causes damage to the materials ofconstruction
Sea insects:
 The concentrated action of sea insects results in the undermining of the hardest and
the soundest building material and it is for this reason that the marine structures are
made specially bulky and strong.
Classification of breakwaters:
Breakwaters are classified mainly into three types:
 Heap or mound breakwater
 Mound with superstructure
 Upright wall breakwater.

Heap or mound breakwater

 It is a heterogeneous assemblage of natural rubble, undressed stone blocks, rip rap,
supplemented in many cases by artificial blocks of huge bulk and weight, the whole
being deposited without any regard to bond or bedding.
 This is the simplest type and is constructed by tipping or dumping of rubble stones
into the sea till the heap or mound emerges out of the water, the mound being
consolidated and its side slopes regulated by the action of the waves.
 The quantity of rubble depends upon the depth, rise of tides and waves and exposure.
 On exposed sites, the waves gradually drag down the mound, giving it a flat slope on
the sea face.
 As far as possible, such flattening has to he protected.
 The disturbing action of the waves is the most between the high and low water levels.
 Consequently, all protective methods are adopted above the low water level.
 Protection is also very necessary to the top of the mound and outer or exposed face.

WHARVES
 Platforms or landing places are necessary for ships to come, close enough to the
shore, for purposes of embarkation, disembarkation, etc. at the same time.
 These platform locations should give sufficient depth of water for the ship to
float.

Page 8
  Such platforms are,
called wharves.
 They are built out
into or on to. the
water
 Thus, a wharf affords
a working platform
alongside the ship in
continuity ofthe
shore.
 A wharf is quay but
the term wharf is
generally used for an
open structureofpiles
or posts with
bracings, jutting
from the shore towards the sea.
 A wharf may be a sheet pile wall or it may consist of a piled projection with or
without artificial retention of soil some distance behind or it may be a gravity
wall.
 Wharves may either be parallel to the shore and abutting against it or they may

project into the water either at right angles or oblique to the shore.
 The former type is adopted at places where depth of water is sufficient for the
ships to berth, say 10 m to 12 m
 The latter type is adopted at places where depth of water near the shore is not
enough for the ships to enter safely.
 The level of wharf should be above the high water level. But at the same time, it
should be economical to load the vessels when the water level is low.
 Wharf should act as a unit when there is an impact from any vessel.
 Hence, it should be properly braced and bolted. It is desirable to provide rounded
corners for wharves which art likely to be used by large vessels.
 Such a construction will result in a smooth entry of vessels into the slips
PIERS

Page 9
 The structures which are built perpendicular or oblique to the shore of a river or sea are
known as piers.
 In the sea the piers are constructed where the sea is not deep and the natural harbour is
not convenient for allowing the ships to berth adjacent to the shore.
 In many cases, the piers are constructed with piles, columns and braces leaving good
space for the ocean current to flow without causing any obstruction.
 The dimensions of a pier should be worked out very carefully.
 Its length should be sufficient to accommodate the longest ship likely to take its
advantage.
 In other words, it should project beyond the bow or stern of the ship so as to
protect its hull. Its width should be sufficient to satisfy its utility.
 It can be stated that the pier should be of sufficient width to allow easy unloading
of cargo without any undue delay.
QUAYS
 Wharves along and parallel to the’ shore, are generally called quays andtheir
protection walls are called quay walls

Design of quay walls:

They are built to retain and protect the embankment or filling:
 Factors affecting the design are as follows
 Character of foundation;
 Pressure due to water that finds its way to the real of the wall;
 Effect of buoyancy for the portion of the wall submerged;
 Earth pressure at rear;
 Weight of the wall itself;
 live load of vehicles passing on the platform at the rear;
Page 10
 dead load of the goods stored on the platform;
 force of impact of vessels; etc.
 Quay wails are designed similar to retaining walls;
 But on the water side, they are subject to varying water pressure (owing to
level variations due to tides), and on the land side, earth and contained water
pressures, with proper allowances for surcharge.
JETTIES:

 These are the structures in the form of piled projections and they are built out
from the shore to deep water and they may be constructed either for a navigable
river or in the sea.
 In rivers, the jetties divert the current away
from the river bank and thus, the scouring
action is prevented.
 As the current is diverted to deep waters, the
navigation is also controlled.
 In the sea, the jetties are pr at places where
harbour entrance is affected by littoraldrift or
the sea is shallow for a long distance.
 Thus, they extend from the shore to the deep sea
to receive the ships.
 In a limiting sense, a jetty is defined as a
narrow structure projecting from theshore
into water with berths on one or both sides and sometimes at the end also.
 Jetties are exposed to severe wave action and their
structural design is similar tothat of breakwater.
 However, the designed standards may be released to a
certain extent due tothefact that the jetties are usually
built normal to the most dangerous wave front.
 The impact caused by the berthing ships will depend
on the skill ofthe berthingofficer, local condition of
currents, wind, etc.
 The berthing velocity depends upon the condition of
approach, wind, etc. and it decreases with the increase
in the size of the ships

Page 11
 FENDER:
 The cushion which is provided on the face of jetty for ships to come in
contact is
known as
fender.
 It is provided for
various forms
and is made of
different
materials.
 The common
material used as
fender for jetties
is the
framework of
timber pile
driven into the
sea bed at a
short distance
from the jetty
and filling the space with coiled rope, springs, rubber, buffers, etc.
 The fender system controls the relative motion between dock and ship
caused by wind and waves.
 Hence, it also prevents the paint of ships being damaged.
For the purpose of classification, the fenders can be classified in the
following four categories:
Rubbing strips:
 In its simplest form, the fender system adopted for small vessels
consists of rubbing strips of timber, coir padding or used rubber
tyres
 It is also convenient to use pneumatic inflated tyres, either by suspending
them or installing them at right angles to jetty face.
 The inflated big-size tyres are useful to transfer cargo between mother
ship and daughter ships.
 The pneumatic rubber fenders are very useful for transferring cargo
from ship to ship of big sizes.

Timber grill:
 This system consists merely of vertical and horizontal timber
members fixedto the face piles.
 This is a simple form of fender and to make it more effective, energy
fender piles may be driven along the jetty face with cushion or spring
inserted between them.
Gravity-type fendering system:

 As the ships grew in size, this s came into force and in its simplest form,
it consists of a weighty fender which is raised up when there is an impact
of the berthing ship and thus, the initial energy of shock, is absorbed.
Rubber tendering:
 Due to the development of rubber technology and with, further growth in
Page 12
 ship size, rubber fendering is preferred at present.
 The shapes of rubber fenders may be cylindrical, square, V-shape or cell type.

Littoral transport with erosion and deposition

Littoral processes are the set of mechanisms that operate along a coastline, bringing about various combinations
of erosion and deposition.
The land water interface along the coastline is always in a highly dynamic state and nature works towards
maintaining an equilibrium condition.
The energy due to tide, waves, wind and currents is constantly working in the coastal zone. Dissipation of
energy (due to tide, wind, waves and current) is often provided by the beaches, mudflats, marshes and mangroves.
Human use of the coasts also requires space and herein lays the conflict, which results in unstable coastal systems.
This induces coastal erosion, sediment transport and accretion.The analysis and prediction of sediment transport have
great commercial, aesthetic, social, and scientific importance owing to the sustainable development and
coastal zone management.

Littoral transport is divided into two general classes:

Longshore transport: Transport parallel to the shore.
Onshore-offshore transport:
Transport perpendicular to the shore.

Sediments are transported as,

Bed load transport
The bed load is the part of the total load that is more or less in contact with the bed during the transport. It primarily
includes grains that roll, slide or bounce along the bed.
experiment and theory suggest that the rate of bedload transport (qb) is proportional to the cube of the shear
velocity, i.e. qb 𝖺 u3
Suspended load transport.

It is the part of the total load that is moving in suspension without continuous contact with the bed.
The determination of the rate of suspended load transport is straightforward by comparison with measurement
of the rate of bedload transport.
Wash load transport
It consists of very fine particles transported in water.

It is the movement of sediments most often sand, along a coast parallel to its shoreline - a zig-zag movement
of sediment along the beach .
The largest beach sediment is found where the process begins, updrift, and the smallest, most easily moved,
downdrift.
Where waves are strong, the coast will be eroded and sediment carried away and where they are weak sediment
will be deposited.
Longshore drift can have undesirable effects for humans, such as beach erosion. To prevent this, sea defences
such as groynes or gabions may be employed.
Where beaches have become severely eroded by longshore drift and little material is replaced by natural
processes, then the material may be artificially replaced by beach nourishment.

Page 13
Inland Water Transportation

Inland Water Transportation is an inter-modal transportation for moving goods and passengers.
There are 14,500 km of navigable waterways in India. Out of these, about 5,700 km is navigable by
mechanized vessels.

INLAND WATERWAYSAUTHORITY OF INDIA (IWAI)

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority in charge of the waterways in India. Its
headquarters is located in Noida, UP. It does the function of building the necessary infrastructure in these
waterways, surveying the economic feasibility of new projects and also
administration.
National Waterways come under purview of Central Government and Inland Waterways Authority of
India (IWAI), whereas other waterways are under the control of the state governments.NATIONAL
WATERWAYS
Currently, 5 waterways have been declared as National Waterways (NW) in India.

COASTAL SHIPPING
Coastal shipping acts as an inter-modal transportation and plays an important role in integrated logistics chain in
developed countries. Coastal shipping, also known as Short Sea Shipping (SSS), accounts for 43% of cargo traffic
in Europe. Other economies such as US and China have adopted development and utilization plans for increased
transportation through inland / coastal waterways.
INLAND WATERWAYTRANSPORTATION ADVANTAGES
ADVANTAGES OF IWT
Coastal and inland shipping has many advantages over competing modes of transportation such as road and rail.
The major advantages over domestic movements are:-
1.Congestion free
2.Fuel Efficient
3.Environmental Friendly
4.Large Parcel Sizes
5.Lower Capital and reccuring Investments

Page 14
6.Lower Transportation Costs
7.Lower external Costs
CONGESTION FREE
The road and rail network in India is presently facingcapacity constraints at various stretches leading to high
congestion on these modes of transportation.
Congestion not only leads to delays in transit time but also imposes adverse social and economic costs on the
economy, as the scarce and useful resources (e.g. fuel, productive man-days) of the nation get wasted for no
specific output.
It is estimated that around Rs. 200-300 billion per annum is lost by the country due to road congestion.
With a coastline of around 7500 kms., coastal shipping in India would have no such capacity constraints and
has the capability to supplement the road and rail network and thus help reducing the congestion.
FUEL EFFICIENT
It is widely recognized fact that coastal shipping is a fuel efficient mode of transportation as compared to road
and rail modes. As per the estimates in the table below, coastal shipping consumes only 15% of fuel for
transportation as compared to road and 54% as compared to rail.
ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY
Coastal shipping is an environmental friendly mode of transportation as compared to road and rail. The estimated
emissions for freight transportation by these three modes are presented in Table below.
LARGE PARCEL SIZES
Coastal shipping is capable of transporting large quantities over long distance with ease as compared to road or
rail. Moving the large quantities by road / rail requires multiple vehicle / rakes for the same amount of cargo.
LOWER CAPITAL ANDRECCURING INVESTMENTS
Land requirements for three different modes of transportation are shown in Table on next slide. It can be seen that
both road and rail transportation would require a larger tract of land as compared to coastal shipping. This is due
to the fact that seaway / waterway for coastal shipping is naturally provided. This implies that the development
of facilities for coastal shipping would require comparatively lower capital investment. The port and related
infrastructure once developed, can be maintained at minimal costs. In contrast, regular investments would be
required for maintaining, widening, and strengthening of roads.

LOWER CAPITAL AND RECCURING INVESTMENTSTRANSPORTATION COST

Page 15
It is obvious that the unit cost of transportation by coastal shipping is minimum among the three modes. This
holds true for large parcel size and large distances. However, when the distance / cargo are smaller, the savings
in unit cost is not able to offset additional costs of handling charges at ports. That is why for shorter distances,
road transportation would be effective. In general, road transportation proves effective for moving smaller parcels
over a distance of around 250-300 kilo-meters. Transportation by rail is effective in moving cargo over a distance
of around 300-1000 kilo-meters. However, the coastal shipping would be economical for moving large quantities
even over a short distance.

TRANSPORTATION COST
It is often cited that coastal shipping would involve additional handling at its interface with other modes of
transportation such as road / rail and therefore would entail higher logistics cost between O-D pair. Given the
cost-efficiency offered by coastal shipping and with the advent of River Sea vessels, the cost of transportation by
coastal shipping, including charges for additional handling, would still be lower than the cost of transportation by
road. It has also been estimated that diversion of one billiontonne-km of cargo to the IWT mode will reduce
transport fuel costs by 5 million USD and the overall transport costs by 9 million USD.
EXTERNAL COSTS
The pollution, higher risks due to reduced safety andloss of human lives due to accidents on road are suggested
to be having higher costs as compared to coastal shipping. The discomfort and the stress experienced due to
congestion and delays, also pose hazard for health. As the roads pass through densely populated areas,
transportation of dangerous goods by road becomes riskier proposition. Coastal shipping eliminates this risk for
human lives.

INLAND WATERWAY TRANSPORTATION COMPONENTS

COMPONENTS OF IWT
To make the inland waterways useful for transportation

Page 16
following components need to be developed:
1.Navigable facilities
2.Transportation facilities
3.Terminal facilities
4.Last mile connectivity
NAVIGATIONAL FACILITIES

A navigable channel with proper depth and width which can allow smooth movement of barges through the
waterways is the foremost requirement. IWAI standard is to have 2 meters draft available throughout the
waterways, which will allow a barge with 1.8 meters draft to operate. The waterways width rescribed is 32 meters
on closed channels and 38 meters on open channels.
Navigational aids Channel should be equipped with navigational aids for safe and easy navigation. These aids
include:
1.River notices and navigational charts
2.Navigational marks on the waterways
3.Night navigation system
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES
Inland vessels / barges are required to move the goods and passengers through inland waterways.
Additionally, vessels are also required for the purpose of dredging, inspection and monitoring of
the work.
TERMINAL FACILITIES
Throughout the waterways terminal facilities are required at appropriate intervals. The required facilities at such
terminals include:
1. Jetties for berthing of vessels
2. Space for loading / unloading of cargo
3. Handling equipments such as cranes for cargo /
container movement
4. Shed / storage area for cargo
5. Area for vehicles movement for loading / unloading of
cargo
6. Space for embarking / disembarking of passengers
TERMINAL FACILITIES
For having effective logistics-chain, the ancillary infrastructural facilities
1.Bonded area within the terminal
2.Infrastructure for last mile connectivity to the origin /destination in the hinterland
3.Container Freight Stations (CFSs) or Transit Terminalsat such terminals
4.Utilities such as parking space, restrooms, etc.

LAST MILECONNECTIVITY

The last mile connectivity is one of the major hurdles in switching to IWT.
While, services are available for moving the cargo from one terminal to another terminal, finding a service
provider for last mile connectivity is difficult and not so cost-effective. The existing service providers have to

Page 17
evolve an integrated logistics model wherein they take the responsibility for end-to-end movement. This would
remove the multiple interfaces with different transport service providers that a shipper is subjected to. Moreover,
the shipper would feel relieved and can focus on its core business.

INLAND WATERWAY TRANSPORTATION OPERATIONAL ISSUES

OPERATIONAL ISSUES
1.Vessels
2.Depth
3.Terminals on waterways
4.Regulatory
5.Development of Inland Waterways
6.Terminals development
7.Cargo Handling Facilities
8.Last Mile Connectivity
9.Accumulation of Cargo/Regular Services
10.Dry Docking
11.Slower Mode
12.Additional Handling
13.Funding
VESSELS
So far the inland vessels being designed were for solely purpose of inland waterways. Coastal vessels were
designed for meant for seavoyages between different ports in the country. These vessels could not inter-ply
between the modes. With the modification in Merchant Shipping Act, a new category of River Sea Vessels has
come up. These vessels can be designed in a way that the vessel can travel along the coast as well as on waterways.
Therefore, the missing link in terms of vessels type is available now.
DEPTH
However, the availability of depth on inland waterways may not be amenable for construction of
an optimum designed vessel suited for both. Therefore, the depth on waterways needs to be further increased, at
least to 3.5 meters.
TERMINALS ON WATERWAYS
The terminals established on waterways should also be capable of handling these river-sea vessels which are
supposed to upgraded version of inland vessels. The berths and jetties should match the requirements for easy
operations of the vessels.
REGULATORY
With the River-Sea Vessels notification, the vessels registered under appropriate category of Merchant
Shipping Act, can ply seamlessly on inland waterways and between ports in India. Therefore, the regulatory
aspect has been resolved and the integration would become effective. However, the Inland Vessel Building
Subsidy Scheme, in its current form would favour construction of inland vessels. Therefore, the subsidy scheme
should be extended to River Sea Vessels, so that it attracts similar interest.
DEVELOPMENT OF INLAND WATERWAYS
While IWT has many advantages for transportation as compared to road and rail, it has not witnessed
desired growth. Several issues are impeding the growth of this sector.
TERMINALS DEVELOPMENT

Page 18
As noted earlier in this Presentation, the terminal should have properly developed facilities such as jetties for
berthing of vessels, space for loading / unloading, storage area, space for vehicles movement and parking, etc.
These facilities are to be provided by the government. Apart from these, the overnment should encourage setting
up of ancillary infrastructural facilities such as custom bonded area within the terminal, CFS, etc.
CARGO HANDLING FACILITIES
While the terminals are being developed, these are not equipped with cargo handling facilities. This is another
big hurdle in use of IWT. The government plans to have such equipments installed by the user community i.e.
private sector players, who are reluctant to invest. Such investments by a private party would merit only if it
makes commercially viable proposition and the investor can recoup his money. As the government wants to
promote IWT, it should guarantee a minimum business for the investor. This would mean that investors‟
commercial risks are mitigated while ensuring development of facilities.
LAST MILE CONNECTIVITY
The last mile connectivity is one of the major hurdles in switching to IWT. While, services are available for
moving the cargo from one terminal to another terminal, finding a service provider for last mile connectivity is
difficult and not so cost-effective. The existing service providers have to evolve an integrated logistics model
wherein they take the responsibility for end-to-end movement. This would remove the multiple interfaces with
different transport service providers that a shipper is subjected to. Moreover, the shipper would feel relieved and
can focus on its core business.
ACCUMULATION OF CARGO/REGULAR SERVICES
There are no regular services for movement of cargo through IWT. Existing service providers cater to full shipload
cargo on charter basis. However, entities with less than shipload, such as 1-2 TEUs, do not have the facility for
moving the cargo same day by IWT. For having the full load for a barge, the shipper would have to wait for 7-10
days. This waiting time is not required in case of moving the containers by road, as the shipper can move any
number of containers same day. An option is to consolidate the cargo for multiple shippers and then send it by
IWT. However, all the shippers do not buy the idea, as they are sceptical about the reliability and timely delivery.
Regular barge services between the port and inland water terminal can resolve this problem. However, an
operatormay lose money for providing regular barge services initially, as it would carry less than full load.
Nevertheless, if shippers realize that there are reliable and regular services, they would eventually switch to
IWT.
DRY DOCKING
The Inland Vessels Rules requires every inland vessel to be compulsorily dry docked every 24 months. The
operators in the field cited that this requirement is on higher side and similar to that for vessels registered under
Merchant Shipping Act. Considering that inland vessels are not prone to rough sea and longer voyages, the rate
of wear and tear would be slower. Hence, it is recommended that the compulsory dry docking may be suitably
relaxed.
SLOWER MODE
IWT is a slower mode of transportation with average journey speed of around 8-10 Knot (15-20 kmph). However,
it should be noted that roads in Kerala suffer from congestion and the average journey speed would be no more
than 25 kmph for freight movement. Considering the other advantages, such as fuel efficiency and less hazardous
to environment, that IWT offers, speed is not a big issue.
ADDITIONAL HANDLING
Since, many of the industrial units are on land side with no direct access to waterfronts, moving cargo by IWT
requires additional handling at terminals. However, given the cost-efficiency offered by IWT, the cost of

Page 19
transportation by IWT, including charges for additional handling, would still be lower than thecost of
transportation by road.
FUNDING
Infrastructure creation requires larger quantum of funds. The government with its limited resources may not be
able to generate the required amount for creation of infrastructure. The budgetary resources may be used to
provide basic infrastructure such as navigable waterways and terminals. The government may actively explore
possibility of private sector participation on terms of assured minimum business, initially. For meeting the
minimum assured business, the government should use incentives and policy measures. This would attract many
private investors into the IWT, who would bring in the required amount for augmenting the infrastructure.

Sounding On Ship
On board ship, it is very important to keep the updated record of the quantity of liquids (in all forms) present in
various tanks. A ship is fitted with different types of automatic and hydraulic/ pneumatic/ mechanical sounding
measuring systems wherein the level of the liquid can be checked remotely or locally without manually
measuring and calculating the liquid amount inside the tank.

One cannot entirely depend on the automation and mechanical devices, especially when it comes to those
substances, for which, negligence can cause oil pollution and machinery damages. Manual sounding is always
preferred by all seafarers (deck and engine crew/ officer) to recheck the level of the fluid in the tanks, ensuring
the tanks will not overflow or run dry in any case.

Methods for taking sounding on a ship

Certain cargos carried on ships are toxic, hazardous and inflammable, hence various methods are provided on a
ship to measure the volume in the tank. Some of the most common gauging methods used on ships are:

Manual sounding
All important tanks on ships are provided with sounding pipe through which a person can insert a sounding tape
to measure the level in the tank manually.

Used for: Fuel/ lube oil service tanks, ballast tanks, other non hazardous tanks etc.

Electronic sounding Gauges

In electronic sounding, a sensor is used which senses the pressure inside the sounding pipe or by sensing the
tank pressure and sends a signal to the receiver. The value is displayed using electrical operated servo gauge or
electrical capacitance gauge.

Normally used for: Cargo holds carrying oil, hazardous cargo etc

Electrically powered servo-operated gauges

This tank gauging system is based on the principle of displacement measurement. A small displacer is

Page 20
accurately positioned in the liquid medium using a servo motor. The displacer is suspended on a measuring wire
that is wound onto a finely grooved drum housing within the instrument.

Normally used for: Cargo holds carrying oil, hazardous cargo etc.

Bubbler gauges
This gauging system works on principle of hydrostatic pressure measurement to determine liquid level. The
pressure created by the actual depth of liquid is fed to the gauge which moves the reading until an equilibrium is
reached.

Normally used for: Lube/ fuel oil tanks inside engine room or with accessible bulkheads

Ultrasonic gauges
This works on principle similar to that of echo sounder wherein a ultrasonic wave is thrown from the
gauge. The sensor detects the echo from the surface and routes it back to the microprocessor for a digital
representation of the distance between the sensor and the surface level.

Normally used for: Cargo holds carrying oil, hazardous cargo etc.

Mechanical sounding Gauges

Mechanical provisions are made inside the tank so that the quantity of tank can directly be read through a level
marker or an indicator or a float level sensor. In the tank a float can be attached to a pointer through a pulley. As
the level varies pointer reading will change accordingly. A level gauge glass is also attached to the tank to read
the quantity of the fluid inside the tank. The gauge may also be a pneumatic/hydraulic operated gauge or
differential pressure gauge.

Page 21