While the National Maritime Day is celebrated on April 5 every year to commemorate the voyage of the first Indian ship SS loyalty from Mumbai to the United Kingdom on the day in the year 1919, the 51st National Maritime Day was celebrated by the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) here on Saturday.
The main function was held in the wet basin of the PPT’s Marine Site office with hoisting of National Maritime Day flag by chief guest PPT Chairman Sudhanshu Sekhara Mishra in the morning. Then, competitions like swimming, heaving line throw, rope climbing, lifejacket race, etc, were held.
At the meeting the PPT Chairman spoke about the handling of a total 68 million tonnes of cargo by the Paradip Port. He is confident of breaking this all-time record of the port in the financial year of 2014-15.
The welcome address was given by PPT Deputy Conservator Capt Gouri Prasad Biswal and the meeting was conducted by Harbour Master Capt Atulya Kumar Mohapatra. A senior maritime personnel of Odisha, Capt Kalinga Bikram Acharya of Noble group, was honoured by the PPT for his excellent service to the country’s maritime industry.
The theme of this year’s National Maritime Day was “Maritime India —Exploring Avenues for HRD” on which a seminar was held by PPT Officers’ Club and prizes were distributed to the winners in the various competitions.
The PPT also celebrated the Merchant Navy Week from March 29 to April 5. The port city wore a colourful look with banners and posters for commemorating the Merchant Navy Week and the National Maritime Day.