MUNDRA PORT, ADANI PORT AND SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE , SEZ - CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL
Early this year ( 2012 ) my chemical tanker laden with Methanol from Sohar Oman went to Mundra Port Gujarat for discharge.
I had a bizarre experience there, never experienced before in my 3 decades of command.
The Methanol at Sohar was loaded under absolute quality control.
My ship's stainless steel tanks failed the PTT test of wall wash. It was a expensive first foot failure for Capt Vadakayil--for the first time in his life.
Since I always back myself in such bad situations, I gave a rare challenge. I contested the Lab report and called in my P&I insurers from London.
You can read about this by punching into Google search--
WALL WASH PTT WITHOUT TEARS, CHEMICAL TANKERS- VADAKAYIL.
Believe me when I say taking on a shore wall wash lab is always a losing battle.
To cut a long story short, I won.
The lab would be put to an strict inspection for vetting their own competence and procedures.
So we went hoppety hop to Mundra Port to discharge this stuff.
Though my VLCC where I was second mate was the first to discharge at Vadinar SBM terminal and I was engaged in lighterage operations at Sikka , where I commanded mother ships discharging into daughter vessels, later on I lost touch with Gujarat. I was coming to Gujarat after probably 2 decades.
Of course I used to remember Gujarat.
We used to go ashore by launch and at low tide the boat had to stop way off the shore. We used to ride piggy back on young guys for a small fee, who would wade through mud and carry us on their backsides till our feet could touch terra firma. And at this time I could see conch shells ( Shank ) as big as large coconuts.
In the evenings, invariably the daughter ship Captain ,would come on my ship with his family and the Loading master, by crane basket transfer , to chat over a few beers and have dinner. My wife used to play host .
Mother ships had bond ( booze ) while daughter ships were coastal and were devoid of bond.
We used to buy large crabs, from fishing boats who came alongside , clean them up and put them in a hundi , with just salt at the bottom and steam them. No water was put. The crabs stewed in their own juices. The flesh of the extraordinary large crabs used to be so tasty.
Today with the rape of the ecology by mindless sanctions of development-- all this marine ecology has disappeared. Rich mangroves forest areas have been choked. The Gujarat fishermen now have to venture into the Pakistani waters and poach in case they have to make a profit. Is this the cost of development?
I don't want to take names here.
As a patriotic Indian I was proud after reading about Gautam Adani's initiative and the great strides he had made in starting such a fantastic port, from marshland. Mundra Port was the largest among 12 private ports of India.
The first bad taste came when the agents send a email stating that unless I waive all my rights away, i cannot berth at Mundra Port-- and that every ship till now has signed such a waiver.
My ship had to berth on 100 % terms of Mundra Port, come hell , come high water. I have never seen such a legal document like this, ever before.
Naturally I had to refer this to my owners in Japan and my Managers in Singapore.
My charterers in USA , was quick in imploring that I should sign this waiver as soon as possible. To cut a long story short, I was forced to sign this, against my better judgement on being advised to do so by the owners of the ship.
Between the time the pilot boarded to berth the ship and the time I dropped off the outgoing pilot, after discharging all the Methanol, Mundra port became my least favourite port among the all the ports of this planet.
First of all my ship was berthed at a unsafe coal jetty, with trucks and cars driving past, and at least 2 dozen people on the quay using their mobile phones.
There was NOT a single employee, port official (like Customs/Immigration etc) or a service provider in the port, who did NOT curse Adani Inc under his breath.
It left me wondering -what the hell, are these guys jealous of a young successful Indian entrepreneur Gautam Adani , when actually they should be proud of him ?
They all gave me unsolicited information that Gautam Adani was a pauper who rose up to dizzying heights not because of his brains , but because of his wheeling and dealing.
One of his own school mates at CN Seth Vidyalaya told me about young Gautam Adani . That he was from a impoverished family, and that he lacked the grey matter in class etc.
Again I told myself-- sheer jealousy.
But then could everybody be wrong?
So I challenged this man to authenticate his charges.
So he says 'The whole of Gujarat knows that all this land of area 14500 acres or 5.8 crore square metres of land has been given to him for single digit rupee cost -- without auction !"
To be frank I was a bit shocked.
If so how is that nobody has filed a complaint? Surely some business rival should take him on? Are we not in the age of Anna Hazare?
Suddenly my Peruvian Chief Officer calls me up on walkie talkie and says " Sir, the cargo tank surveyors are opening out the tanks domes to do open sampling. If we do NOT start cargo within 2 hours of coming alongside ( not gangway down ). there will be some thousand US dollars fine for the next minute and then every hour after that"
To add to our woes dozens of labourers were tipping coal from the empty chutes and I had a fine layer of black coal all over my grey deck, including my nostrils.
Methanol is such a clean cargo, that you cant even have a speck of dust in the cargo.
I tried to expostulate, being an Indian , I did NOT want to make an issue in an Indian port, if things could be reasoned out amicably.
This is when I notices the arrogance of the port. Never seen anything like thing before in any other port in the world. They stopped the tipping , when I said I will inform the buyers or Methanol, within an hour.
The top managers of the port ( no names!) , punch drunk with power, were absolutely sure of themselves. " This is our way, If you don't like it you can cast off your ship on your account and drop anchor! If the other ship on the next berth can do open ullaging ( Indian SCI ship with diesel ) , why cant you do it? "
They made a big mistake.
They were cocky enough and gave this in writing by email via the agents. Which I promptly forwarded to my P&I in London.
Surely Mundra -- nay Adani port is NOT gonna get any awards in the near future-- like how they wrangled the "BEST PORT OF THE YEAR AWARD 2006" from Lloyds London.
The Adani brand had taken a huge dent because of this incident, in the foreign shipping circles. Never mind their local clout!
Trying to rush cargo surveyors to do open ullaging on 28 nos SS tanks full of Methanol, is so dangerous --in fact more dangerous than putting a cobra in your only child's bedroom and locking the door.
14500 acres or 5.8 crore square metres of land bought for single digit rupee cost per sq metre -- without auction, in the year 2003 -
WOW !
-- if this is NOT wheeling and dealin' and favouritism , what else could it be?
And we have put poor Raja in jail.
In USA lobbyists are official pimps who do the wheeling -dealin' and bribery.
The CBI had 5,851 recordings of “wheeling and dealing” phone conversations by Nira Radia Radia, some of which clearly outline Radia's attempts to broker deals in relation to the 2G spectrum sale. The tapes demonstrate how Radia attempted to powerful media persons to influence the decision to appoint A. Raja as telecom minister. She was Ratan Tata’s lobbyist.
Punch into google search PERSONAL BRANDING- VADAKAYIL.
Top managers of ports must care about not denting their own brand. If Gautam Adani reads this post, he must bear this in mind.
Gautam Adani was in the first floor restaurant Chambers of Taj hotel Mumbai when Paki terrorists attacked -- and he was rescued after 2 hours by commandos.
At Mundra port if the Captain does NOT meet the corrupt gratuity demands ( excessive ) of the boarding customs officer on arival , he can forget about receiving provisions and stores. Customs have been given unlimited powers quoting LEVEL 2 security. And finally the Captain has waived all his powers to this private port.
So, from now on anybody who punches ito Google search MUNDRA PORT EXPERIENCE , will see this post on page one among thousands-- such is the readership I command.
When Mundra port's top bosses send a communication to a senior Indian Master , Capt Vadakayil, telling him to FU#K OFF, they never anticipated this permanent dent in their brand, right?
Grace and peace!
CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL
..
Early this year ( 2012 ) my chemical tanker laden with Methanol from Sohar Oman went to Mundra Port Gujarat for discharge.
I had a bizarre experience there, never experienced before in my 3 decades of command.
The Methanol at Sohar was loaded under absolute quality control.
My ship's stainless steel tanks failed the PTT test of wall wash. It was a expensive first foot failure for Capt Vadakayil--for the first time in his life.
Since I always back myself in such bad situations, I gave a rare challenge. I contested the Lab report and called in my P&I insurers from London.
You can read about this by punching into Google search--
WALL WASH PTT WITHOUT TEARS, CHEMICAL TANKERS- VADAKAYIL.
Believe me when I say taking on a shore wall wash lab is always a losing battle.
To cut a long story short, I won.
The lab would be put to an strict inspection for vetting their own competence and procedures.
So we went hoppety hop to Mundra Port to discharge this stuff.
Though my VLCC where I was second mate was the first to discharge at Vadinar SBM terminal and I was engaged in lighterage operations at Sikka , where I commanded mother ships discharging into daughter vessels, later on I lost touch with Gujarat. I was coming to Gujarat after probably 2 decades.
Of course I used to remember Gujarat.
We used to go ashore by launch and at low tide the boat had to stop way off the shore. We used to ride piggy back on young guys for a small fee, who would wade through mud and carry us on their backsides till our feet could touch terra firma. And at this time I could see conch shells ( Shank ) as big as large coconuts.
In the evenings, invariably the daughter ship Captain ,would come on my ship with his family and the Loading master, by crane basket transfer , to chat over a few beers and have dinner. My wife used to play host .
Mother ships had bond ( booze ) while daughter ships were coastal and were devoid of bond.
We used to buy large crabs, from fishing boats who came alongside , clean them up and put them in a hundi , with just salt at the bottom and steam them. No water was put. The crabs stewed in their own juices. The flesh of the extraordinary large crabs used to be so tasty.
Today with the rape of the ecology by mindless sanctions of development-- all this marine ecology has disappeared. Rich mangroves forest areas have been choked. The Gujarat fishermen now have to venture into the Pakistani waters and poach in case they have to make a profit. Is this the cost of development?
I don't want to take names here.
As a patriotic Indian I was proud after reading about Gautam Adani's initiative and the great strides he had made in starting such a fantastic port, from marshland. Mundra Port was the largest among 12 private ports of India.
The first bad taste came when the agents send a email stating that unless I waive all my rights away, i cannot berth at Mundra Port-- and that every ship till now has signed such a waiver.
My ship had to berth on 100 % terms of Mundra Port, come hell , come high water. I have never seen such a legal document like this, ever before.
Naturally I had to refer this to my owners in Japan and my Managers in Singapore.
My charterers in USA , was quick in imploring that I should sign this waiver as soon as possible. To cut a long story short, I was forced to sign this, against my better judgement on being advised to do so by the owners of the ship.
Between the time the pilot boarded to berth the ship and the time I dropped off the outgoing pilot, after discharging all the Methanol, Mundra port became my least favourite port among the all the ports of this planet.
First of all my ship was berthed at a unsafe coal jetty, with trucks and cars driving past, and at least 2 dozen people on the quay using their mobile phones.
There was NOT a single employee, port official (like Customs/Immigration etc) or a service provider in the port, who did NOT curse Adani Inc under his breath.
It left me wondering -what the hell, are these guys jealous of a young successful Indian entrepreneur Gautam Adani , when actually they should be proud of him ?
They all gave me unsolicited information that Gautam Adani was a pauper who rose up to dizzying heights not because of his brains , but because of his wheeling and dealing.
One of his own school mates at CN Seth Vidyalaya told me about young Gautam Adani . That he was from a impoverished family, and that he lacked the grey matter in class etc.
Again I told myself-- sheer jealousy.
But then could everybody be wrong?
So I challenged this man to authenticate his charges.
So he says 'The whole of Gujarat knows that all this land of area 14500 acres or 5.8 crore square metres of land has been given to him for single digit rupee cost -- without auction !"
To be frank I was a bit shocked.
If so how is that nobody has filed a complaint? Surely some business rival should take him on? Are we not in the age of Anna Hazare?
Suddenly my Peruvian Chief Officer calls me up on walkie talkie and says " Sir, the cargo tank surveyors are opening out the tanks domes to do open sampling. If we do NOT start cargo within 2 hours of coming alongside ( not gangway down ). there will be some thousand US dollars fine for the next minute and then every hour after that"
To add to our woes dozens of labourers were tipping coal from the empty chutes and I had a fine layer of black coal all over my grey deck, including my nostrils.
Methanol is such a clean cargo, that you cant even have a speck of dust in the cargo.
I tried to expostulate, being an Indian , I did NOT want to make an issue in an Indian port, if things could be reasoned out amicably.
This is when I notices the arrogance of the port. Never seen anything like thing before in any other port in the world. They stopped the tipping , when I said I will inform the buyers or Methanol, within an hour.
The top managers of the port ( no names!) , punch drunk with power, were absolutely sure of themselves. " This is our way, If you don't like it you can cast off your ship on your account and drop anchor! If the other ship on the next berth can do open ullaging ( Indian SCI ship with diesel ) , why cant you do it? "
They made a big mistake.
They were cocky enough and gave this in writing by email via the agents. Which I promptly forwarded to my P&I in London.
Surely Mundra -- nay Adani port is NOT gonna get any awards in the near future-- like how they wrangled the "BEST PORT OF THE YEAR AWARD 2006" from Lloyds London.
The Adani brand had taken a huge dent because of this incident, in the foreign shipping circles. Never mind their local clout!
Trying to rush cargo surveyors to do open ullaging on 28 nos SS tanks full of Methanol, is so dangerous --in fact more dangerous than putting a cobra in your only child's bedroom and locking the door.
14500 acres or 5.8 crore square metres of land bought for single digit rupee cost per sq metre -- without auction, in the year 2003 -
WOW !
-- if this is NOT wheeling and dealin' and favouritism , what else could it be?
And we have put poor Raja in jail.
In USA lobbyists are official pimps who do the wheeling -dealin' and bribery.
The CBI had 5,851 recordings of “wheeling and dealing” phone conversations by Nira Radia Radia, some of which clearly outline Radia's attempts to broker deals in relation to the 2G spectrum sale. The tapes demonstrate how Radia attempted to powerful media persons to influence the decision to appoint A. Raja as telecom minister. She was Ratan Tata’s lobbyist.
Punch into google search PERSONAL BRANDING- VADAKAYIL.
Top managers of ports must care about not denting their own brand. If Gautam Adani reads this post, he must bear this in mind.
Gautam Adani was in the first floor restaurant Chambers of Taj hotel Mumbai when Paki terrorists attacked -- and he was rescued after 2 hours by commandos.
At Mundra port if the Captain does NOT meet the corrupt gratuity demands ( excessive ) of the boarding customs officer on arival , he can forget about receiving provisions and stores. Customs have been given unlimited powers quoting LEVEL 2 security. And finally the Captain has waived all his powers to this private port.
So, from now on anybody who punches ito Google search MUNDRA PORT EXPERIENCE , will see this post on page one among thousands-- such is the readership I command.
When Mundra port's top bosses send a communication to a senior Indian Master , Capt Vadakayil, telling him to FU#K OFF, they never anticipated this permanent dent in their brand, right?
Grace and peace!
CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL
..
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