One of India's top-notch natural harbours, the Mormugao port is a premier hub of maritime trade in Goa.

One of India's top-notch natural harbours, the Mormugao port is a premier hub of maritime trade in Goa. With its location at the mouth of the Zuari River, the Mormugao port is a crucial component in the flourishing export industry of the state. The origin of the port dates back to the Portuguese era, it being a spin-off of the Treaty of Lisbon in 1878 between the British and the Portuguese Governments. .

Ever since it was accorded the status of a Major Port in 1963, the Mormugao port has contributed immensely to growth of maritime trade in India. It is the leading iron ore exporting port of India with an annual throughput of around 24.50 million tonnes of iron ore traffic. The Mormugao Port accounts for about 32% of India's iron ore export.

The Mormugao harbour is also a major attraction for tourists coming to the Vasco da Gama city. The harbour's claim to fame is the role it played in the 1980 war film, 'The Sea Wolves.' The film, starring Gregory Peck and Roger Moore, is based on a real-life incident where The Calcutta Light Horse, a territorial unit of British expatriates, launches a covert operation to destroy three German ships interned in the Mormugao harbor in Goa.

At the time of its commissioning in 1888, the Mormugao Port comprised of 3 berths along with a breakwater having a length of 358 meters. As the years rolled by, the infrastructure slowly kept growing. By 1922, Berths 4 and 5 were built and the breakwater was extended to its present length of 522.40 meters. A mole of 270 meters was added.

Mormugao Port, went through a fair amount of change as the emphasis shifted to development of infrastructure. A couple of years after liberation, the port was delinked from the Railway management. The main railway section from Vasco da Gama to the border of Goa was transferred to the Southern Railways. The Port however, operated its own railway system between Vasco da Gama interchange point and the harbour area.

From 1948 onwards the iron ore traffic gained importance. The Japanese were rebuilding their nation and Goan iron ore was fated to play a key role in the Japanese industrial renaissance. Japan preferred Goan Iron ore for its expanding steel industry on account of price consideration and other logistics. The Port of Mormugao was now poised for a dramatic growth. It would no more be a sleepy port importing table wines from Portugal and exporting oil cakes from Hubli. Others avenues had earlier been opened by enterprising foreigners. Josephine Hougaz was one such an ethnic Syrian holding a US passport. She introduced Goan cashew nuts to American chocolate makers. Wall Street had crashed. The year was 1929,for almonds and walnuts, until then the preferred fillings for American chocolate and pastry makers, had reached levels that were beyond most of their consumers. But cashew nuts, though subject to considerable sea freight additional for importers, were in comparison cheap but nutritious and tasty American confectioners took to Goan cashew nuts in the year of the wall street crash.

Source: Bharathonline

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