Deendayal Port pulls off daring ship-to-ship transfer with three vessels

Three large ships moored alongside each other in open water, connected by transfer equipment, with cargo flowing between them as the tidal currents of the Gulf of Kutch tug at the entire formation, trying to pull it apart. That is what Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) pulled off on Monday.  

The operation is called a Triple Banking Ship-to-Ship (STS) transfer. A Capesize vessel, one of the largest dry bulk ships on the seas, typically carrying between 1.5 to 1.8 lakh tonnes of cargo and too large to berth at most Indian port jetties, offloaded 1,17,000 tonnes of cargo to an intermediate transhipment vessel.

Simultaneously, in a tandem operation, 77,000 tonnes were transferred from the transshipper onto a Panamax vessel, a smaller ship that can actually navigate the berths and channels of Kandla Port.

Is this difficult?

A standard Ship-to-Ship transfer with just two vessels is already considered high-risk. It requires both ships to stay in near-perfect relative stillness while cargo flows between them, with mooring lines, fenders and transfer arms absorbing the motion of the sea. Three ships moored together multiply every variable: the combined vessel formation is longer, heavier, and far harder to control; the forces acting on the outermost ship ripple inward through all connections.

Doing this at a strongly tidal port like Kandla, where tidal ranges in the Gulf of Kutch can exceed 6 metres, creating powerful currents, further elevates the complexity. Industry guidelines generally discourage three-ship operations even in calm conditions. Kandla executed one in tidal waters.

Kandla has been on emergency energy logistics duty since the Middle East conflict escalated in early March, having already committed to handling 22 vessels in 72 hours on March 13.  The STS operation was a necessity. Capesize vessels carrying bulk cargo (coal, fertiliser, or crude) cannot directly berth at most Indian port jetties because of their enormous draft. Triple banking allows Kandla to absorb cargo from these giants without the delays at anchorage or waiting for berth availability.