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| Rawle Baddaloo, Vice
President, Commercial Relations & Harbour
Management, PLIPDECO |
"Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation
Limited (PLIPDECO) is one of the largest southern
regional hubs," says Captain Rawle Baddaloo,
PLIPDECO’s acting President. Trinidad’s
location in the southern Caribbean, close to South
America makes the port an ideal hub port for transshipment
and feeder vessels trading within the region. Point
Lisas is located in the Gulf of Paria down the west
coast of Trinidad, about 20 km north of Venezuela.
The commercial dock has six berths which can accommodate
vessels up to 190 meters long, with a maximum draught
of 11.76 meters. This port is already a significant
player in containerized business. Captain Rawle
Baddaloo, who is also the Vice President Commercial
Relations & Harbor Management, said that this
already large port will soon undergo a transformation
which involves the building of additional berths
to be completed in at least 15 months. "With
final approvals, berth six could be completed, with
berth seven on the way by the final quarter of 2006.
All the relevant plans and EIAs have been approved,"
he concluded.
As this port continues to grow in container, general
cargo and break bulk operations, it will become
an even more significant player in the containerized
business in the region. Various private companies
operate their own berths and piers, although they
come under the same management as the main commercial
terminals.
The Savonetta Pier One is
335 meters long
The Savonetta Pier One is a 335 meters long finger
pier with two berths. The Savonetta Pier one South
has a dock length of 310 meters and can accommodate
vessels up to 220 meters long with a maximum draught
of 11.59 meters. This dock has specialized facilities
for loading anhydrous ammonia, urea and methanol
for export. It has a maximum loading capacity of
1000 tons per hour, differing as per product. Other
specialized piers have docks of up to 500 meters
accommodating vessels up to 245 meters with a maximum
draught of 11.76 meters.
The Ispat Dock (now Mittal Steel) accommodates vessels
of up to 245 meters
There is also the 407 meter long Ispat Dock, which
can accommodate vessels up to 245 meters long, and
has a loading rate of 1,200 tonnes per hour. Connected
to a conveyor system, it has two ‘level luffing’
cranes of 600 tons per hour capacity each, and a
2,500 tons per hour gantry for discharging cargo.
This dock is dedicated to the import of iron ore
and related raw materials, and the export of direct
reduced iron (D.R.I.).
The container storage yard is designed for both
‘ro-ro’ and ‘lo-lo’ containers
with 2,400 teu of storage. There are 1,600 square
meters of covered storage and 35, 000 square meters
of open storage in the port. With a further 10,
000 square meters of ‘hard standing’ and
2,754 meters of covered storage available only 1
km away
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| Point Lisas Industrial Port
is strategically located. |
This multipurpose port was
built to meet the needs of the industrial estate
The port is becoming a multipurpose port of choice
in Trinidad for many international companies and
ship operators. But the port itself was built to
meet the needs of the industrial estate, and now
serves a much wider customer base.
In addition to managing the industrial port, PLIPDECO
is also the landlord of the 1200 hectares industrial
estate, which is 51% government owned. The other
49% is privately owned by major investors that includes
banks, financial houses, industrial firms, staff
and the general public, and is traded on the Trinidad
stock exchange at $21.++
Since the 1970s, PLIPDECO has supervised the growth
of industrial activities. It started with the manufacture
of steel products, expanding into petrochemicals,
then various processing, logistical and distribution
companies. Achievements since its establishment
in 1966 attest to their commitment to the vision:
"To be recognized as the dominant regional
and global leader in the development, administration
and operation of efficient and profitable customer-oriented
ports and industrial estates."
PLIPDECO operates under ISO 9001:2000 standards,
and strives to maintain the highest international
standards for health, safety and the environment.
Trinidad is considered as
the main transshipment port
With the possibility of Trinidad becoming the headquarters
for Free Trade of the Americas Agreement (FTAA),
Mr Baddaloo pointed out that Trinidad is considered
by major shipping lines as the main transshipment
port to move goods to and from the mainland. This
expansion can only happen if the island becomes
the headquarters of the FTAA. And PLIPDECO can handle
the increased business as is, and with the current
and future expansion.
PLIPDECO posted a TT$49.99 Million after tax profit
over the last financial year ending December 31,
2004. The audited accounts for the year showed that
the Corporation continued to perform well with an
increase in turnover of 25 percent over the previous
year. These results have been largely attributed
to higher revenues from port operations combined
with further gains in the fair value of investment
properties.
New RTGs, a state-of-the-art computerised Port
Information System, road repairs and an improved
electricity supply are just a few of the projects
PLIPDECO plans to have firmly in hand by the end
of the year.
Many of these are already in progress and the company
has received approval from the board for the capital
expenditure toward some of these projects.
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