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India's first Container Transshipment Port in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala was inaugurated on Oct. 15. Located near the southernmost tip of the country, the Vizhinjam port will allow India to grab a bigger slice of the international maritime trade currently dominated by China.
So what is so special about this port? Let’s find out
What is a Trans-shipment Port?
When goods have to be offloaded at an intermediate port and loaded onto a different ship to make its onward journey to its final destination, it is called trans-shipment.
The port or ports where it is offloaded to take the connecting vessel is called the trans-shipment port. The connecting ship may be scheduled to sail after a day or more, during which the goods will have to stay on shore.
Why Vizhinjam?
Strategically located just 10 nautical miles from the busy international shipping route connecting Europe, the Persian Gulf and the Far East, Vizhinjam enjoys inherent locational advantages.
Also the port's natural channel depth of up to 24 meters, makes it a suitable hub for ultra-large next-gen container ships requiring 20m+ depth that have previously avoided India due to insufficient harbour depths.
A big win for India?
Recently, the world's largest cargo ship - ‘Ever Alot’ skipped India entirely, stopping at Malaysia and Sri Lanka instead because our ports aren’t deep enough.
Apart from reducing logistics costs, the port will further India's ambitions to become an alternative manufacturing hub. The port is expected to significantly increase India's container traffic, which was only 17 million TEUs in 2020 compared to China's 245 million TEUs.
Who owns this port?
This much-awaited deep-sea port along Kerala’s scenic coastline has been developed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. in collaboration with the local state government.
Adani Ports, India’s largest private sector port operator with a 30% market share, is also developing Israel’s Haifa port and plans to build a hub in Vietnam, as part of its expanding global footprint.
The Controversy
The Latin church in Kerala has expressed reservations about the ongoing celebrations surrounding the first ship's arrival at the Vizhinjam international port, claiming that only 60 per cent of the port’s development work has been completed.
A senior church priest also described the festivities as an 'attempt to mislead' the public.
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