Pipavav Port Project

Abstract

The bay of Pipavav, India has been investigated for a feasible development of a new regional deep water port. This master's study contributes to the DHV Environment and Infrastructure feasibility study for a preliminary masterplan study based on a tentative traffic and shipping forecast. In Volume I of this study a preliminary design of the port was made. This design comprised of the dimensions of the terminals, the storage requirements, the cargo handling equipment and the navigation channel, turning and berthing basins. Also a general layout of the port's land and water areas as well as a phased development of the port are described. In Volume 11 a more detailed design was made, specifically of the hydraulic aspects of the port. A wave climate study and a nautical study were undertaken to get an estimate of the port and terminal downtime, the accessibility of the port and to evaluate the preliminary design. The wave climate study was done using the mathematical models PORTRAY and HISWA. PORTRAY is a ray model, specifically written to predict wave activity inside harbours, but it could not be used for the bathymetric complex tidal basin of Pipavav, so HISWA was used alternatively. HISWA is a mathematical model that uses wave propagation over a grid rather than along rays and on a slowly sloping foreshore seabed. It performed well and was used to describe the exceeding of certain wave heiqht/period combinations at specific locations inside and outside the port. This portrayed a strong wave attenuation starting at circa 80% near the oil products terminal, near the entrance of the port, to circa 8% near the multi-purpose terminal, at the rear of the port. The waves are refracted such that they are incident between 30 and 180 with the moored vessels. Terminal downtime due to waves varied from 20 days at the oil products terminal to 0 days at the multi-purpose terminal. In the final part of this study a nautical study was performed using the mathematical simulation model SHIPMA. With this model the entrance manoeuvre of a 60,000 DWT bulk carrier was simulated under various environmental conditions. The manoeuvre was investigated with regular and extreme wind, waves and currents conditions. Currents proved to be the dominating factor. The study showed that, due to a good alignment of waves and currents with the navigation channel and the terminals, vessels can enter the port with tugboat assistance under all ebb conditions and with flood up to a flow velocity of 1.4 mIs. This resulted in a channel downtime of 22 hours spread out over one year. The results of both studies were combined with the results of a site investigation. With these results the terminal and the port downtime were estimated. It was concluded that the tidal basin is well protected for wave penetration and the port can be sailed well, due to a good current alignment. It is suggested that the oil product terminal is relocated or better protected and a that the crude oil jetty is re-orientated to get a better compromise between current a wave alignment for this terminal.