Vizhinjam seaport set to welcome first containership on July 12

Thiruvananthapuram: The Vizhinjam International Seaport in Thiruvananthapuram is gearing up to welcome the first mother ship on July 12.

The ship with transshipment cargo will be arriving as a trial one to test the operational preparedness of the port. The full fledged commercial operations of the port is expected to begin after a couple of months.

Vizhinjam port being a major infrastructure project that could boost Kerala's development, the CPI(M) government in the state is planning to make the arrival of the first mothership a major event.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is expected to receive the first mothership. Adani Ports chief executive officer Karan Adani and union ministers are likely to take part.

Kerala industries minister P Rajeev said in a social media post that leading shipping giants like Mediterranean Shipping Company, Maersk, APM Terminals and Hapag-Lloyd have expressed keen interest in establishing a presence at Vizhinjam. It highlights the strategic significance of Vizhinjam as a new global transshipment hub.

Proximity to international shipping routes connecting Europe, Persian Gulf and the Far East by just ten nautical miles and natural depth of 18 to 20 metres makes Vizhinjam an ideal spot for attracting large motherships. The port is expected to become a major transshipment hub of the country.

A formal commissioning of the port was in October 2023 with the arrival of the first cargo ship with cranes for the port's operations. The port received the location code - 'IN NYY 1' - last week.

The agreement for developing the port on public-private partnership model at a cost of Rs 7,700 crore was inked with Adani Ports in 2015 while the Congress government led by Oommen Chandy was in power. Though the initial phase was scheduled to be commissioned by 2019, it got delayed owing to Covid-19 and Ockhi cyclone.