Visakhapatnam Port is planning to develop a dedicated berth for coastal shipping within six months, which will help to save time in handling coastal cargo, according to the Chairman MT Krishna Babu. At present, a lot of time is wasted in evacuating cargo as clearance from Customs was necessary for coastal ships, he added. Once the new facility is ready, ships with a deadweight tonnage of 40,000 to 45,000 and about 500 to 1,000 TEUs could easily be berthed at the Port. The berth, with a draught of 14 m, would be coming up at West Quay-10 return end in an area of 300 m between East Quay-10 and West Quay-8. The dedicated berth would be useful for thermal coal loaded at Vizag for discharge at Chennai and cargo meant for Essar for unloading at Hazira in Gujarat, according to the senior official of a shipping company. Upgradation of the existing facility and creation of a new one for handling iron ore at the outer harbour, at an estimated cost of Rs 845 crore, has also been finalised.