Transport hubs continue to function in tsunami-stricken regions

ALAN PEAT
THE INTERNATIONAL freight industry in the tsunami-stricken areas of South East Asia seems to have come off relatively lightly from this natural disaster – although a death toll exceeding 150 000 people illustrates the severity of the event.
Roads and railways in certain parts of the zone were washed away or damaged. But we have no reports revealing any significant effect on major freight hubs, ports or airports.
The only airport which appears to have been hit was Phuket on the seriously flooded west coast of Thailand. It was reported to be functional again on December 27.
Ports in the region also seemed to escape any real damage.
Maersk Sealand released information to FTW on the effects of the tsunami on the ports.
It highlighted Chennai (Madras) in India as the most seriously affected – where six gantry cranes were put out of working order after a heavy swell of seawater flooded the port, and where the approach road was blocked.
But, before the end of the year, all the quay cranes were reported repaired – although still experiencing constantbreakdowns. After the port authorities conducted a sounding survey of the channel and berth, vessels were moving through the channel uninterrupted.
Also in India, Tuticorin port authorities closed all vessel operations during December 26, but the port was soon reopened.
Abnormal tides of up to one-metre were recorded at the port of Cochin and it was closed on December 26, but was working normally the next day.
Vizag and Kolkatta had a Boxing Day shutdown, but also reopened 24-hours later.
In Sri Lanka, meantime, port operations in Colombo were stopped soon after the earthquake and
subsequent tidal wave on December 26 as a safety measure. The port conducted a draught survey to detect any variances on the draught, a number of gantry cranes were repaired, and traffic and piloting were reinstalled at noon on December 27.