The Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) was scheduled to commission the second of its three 5,500 cubic metre Trailer Suction Hopper Dredgers (TSHDs) at Chennai port on July 26. The dredger will then be deployed for projects at Ennore port, DCI Chairman-cum-Managing Director DK Mohanty said on July 5. The first dredger is already at Ennore and now the two 5,500 cubic metre TSHDs will be in operation at port to complete the dredging by the end of October.    

DCI had commissioned the first of three dredgers at Ennore Port in the last week of December 2012 after a gap of 12 years and expects the third dredger to be pressed into service in February 2014. The new dredger being acquired by DCI will act as a replacement for dredger V, which was decommissioned last month after being used for nearly 39 years, sources said.    

The dredger V TSHD was equipped to dredge to a maximum depth of 22 metres and had a dredging capacity of 3,539 cubic metre. The acquisition of the new dredgers would drastically cut maintenance costs for DCI and also increase operational capacity, sources said.    

The DCI's plans to procure two 9,500 cubic metre TSHDs are yet to take off, sources said. The focus was on securing these dredgers first so that we could improve our capacity. Discussions are on with Paradip Port for part-financing at least one of the dredgers and a decision is yet to be taken on the two (9500 TSHDs) dredgers, a senior official concerned said.