Vijaydurg Port

Vijaydurg Port is one of the operational minor (non-major) ports handling cargo under Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB).[2] This port is categorized under Vengurla group of ports under Maharashtra Maritime Board. The controlling authority of this port is "Assistant Range Officer".[1]

The chief commodities imported in this port are food-stuffs, pulses, salt, oil-cakes, sugar, cement and dry fish. The chief commodities exported from this port are; mangoes, jungle-wood, hemp, bamboos and coconuts.[1]

Food and related products as well as general merchandise are imported from Mumbai, salt from Mora and Karanja, tiles from Mangalore and salted fish from Malvan and Karwar. Mangoes, wood and salted fish are sent to Mumbai.[1]

The average turn-over of import and export at the port during 1953-58 was about 25,000 tons and about 25,000 passengers travel through the port every year.[3] An old anchor (length 13m, breadth 8m and road circumference 2m), belonging to the Maratha Navy was found lying in water near the port for over hundred years and still in good condition. It was moved to the Maritime Museum, Mumbai, from the port at the request of Captain J. R. Davis, Nautical Adviser to the Government of India, on 5 February 1956.[3]

The region surrounding Vijaydurg Port has a good network of rivers and rivulets. There are many interruptions to road traffic due to the absence of bridges over the numerous rivers, rivulets and creeks. Many ferries ply only after monsoon as the swelling waters begin to recede as the month of October advances.[4] The ferries ply between Vijaydurg and Kharepatan which is 40 km towards the eastern side of Waghotan River.

Almost all the ferries are country crafts manned by two or three ferrymen. Small boats called Hodis ply across rivers and rivulets. The sailing vessels plying across creeks are called machwas. A hodi can accommodate four persons, while a machwa can carry up to fifty persons.[4]

The statistics regarding the number of passengers embarked and disembarked at this port for six years (1951 to 1957) are given in the table below:[1]

Until 1983, Vijaydurg was a port of call for the Konkan Steamer service, which ran two ships: Konkan Sevak and Konkan Shakti, which were later sent to supply the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Forces) in Sri Lanka in the late 1980s on the behest of late Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi.[5] In the past, a few operators like Damania did launch catamaran services, but they never really took off. The smaller catamarans that replaced them in the mid-nineties were described as "soulless" by many a traveller. 'The sea route on board the catamarans could never be a pleasant experience for the passengers due to the heavy rolling and pitching effects of the sea throughout the entire journey,' states the proposal passed by the state government.[6]

Maharashtra Maritime Board has proposed the construction of a modern and all weather port at Vijaydurg in Sindhudurg District, Maharashtra. The estimated investment in the project is Rs. 5000.0 Million (USD 100.0 million).[7]

State-run Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), India’s busiest container gateway near Mumbai, is planning to build a satellite port at either Vijaydurg or Dahanu[9] in Maharashtra for at least Rs.10,000 crore. JNPT and the Maharashtra government will hold 75% and 25% respectively in the proposed project, according to port chairman N.N. Kumar, in an interview. At both Vijaydurg and Dahanu, there is natural draught of 20 metres to receive bigger ships. A feasibility study for a satellite port has been completed internally. At present, there is only one big port in Maharashtra - JNPT, despite the fact that there is large industrial growth taking place in the state. The project's time frame has not been disclosed.[10]

• 
• 
  Machwa
• 
  Hodi

• Vijaydurg
• Vijaydurg Fort
• Rameshwar Wadi
• Shri Dev Rameshwar Temple
• Rameshwar Dockyard