The ships at present working included MT Hansa loading 2,100 tonne of LAB, MT Sea Rock unloading 6,000 tonne of furnace oil and MV An Shun Jiang (diverted from Kandla) loading 12,000 tonne of DOC.

The newly built all-weather, deep-berth multi-cargo port in the Gulf of Kutch has just completed unloading 4,910 tonne of methanol from MT Oriental Garland, loading 2,000 tonne of Bentonite onto MV Arktis Sky and unloading 6,172 tonne of edible oil from MT Mina - after the quake had hit the state.Similarly, GMB sources said, the intermediate ports at Bedi, Porbandar, Veraval, Okha, Bhvanagar and Magdalla, being run by GMB, are also fully prepared to handle additional traffic. Last fiscal, the 11 intermediate and 29 minor ports in Gujarat had together handled 48.50 million tonne of traffic, surpassing even that of the major port at Kandla.

The GMB-owned Navlakhi, which was just renovated after suferring heavy damages in the cyclone two years back, was damaged again on January 26.The sources said that the Navlakhi port which can handle up to 11,000 tonne of dry cargo, is likely to be operational within a week. There is no damage to the highway to the port. However, it might take a little longer time to restore the Navlakhi-Maliya railway track which was converted into broad gauge from narrow gauge after the cyclone. The port mainly imports coal and exports salt.

As per the international maritime codes, the sources said, the vessels waiting in the high sea for anchorage on Gujarat coast may contact any of the port authorities.

Then there is the country's first port in the private sector at Pipavav facing Arabian Sea and Sikka in the Gulf of Kutch with private jetties of Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) and fertiliser companies.

According to Kandla Port Trust (KPT) sources, the port is likely to be operational soon. It has to clear the spillage from highly hazardous ACN (acrylonitrile) storage tank, besides damage to other structures.