Sandheads, located at the mouth of the Hooghly River in northeastern India, is handling imported coal, which is then being barged along National Waterway Number One to an electricity generating station at Farakka. The contract has been awarded to Jindal ITF and involves the deployment of 20 barges able to handle between 2,000 and 2,200 tonnes each. The total flow of coal could amount to around 3 million tonnes annually.
Nevertheless the riversea vessel class 2 barges are not viewed as being particularly well-suited for operation at Sandheads, because they do not have proper hatch covers, meaning that they become slightly unstable when wave height is more than 2m. Ideally, class 4 barges are mandated for this type of operation.
BC