Vizhinjam Port : Formally Open
The Prime Minister of India will formally open the Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerala, marking a major step in putting the southern state on the global maritime map.
- Vizhinjam Port is located at Vizhinjam, a coastal town in Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala.
- It is India’s first dedicated transshipment port and also the country’s first semi-automated port.
- Built at a cost of around Rs 8,900 crore under public-private partnership (PPP) mode, the transshipment port is operated by the Adani Group, with the Kerala government holding the majority stake.
- The breakwater at Vizhinjam is the deepest in India and stretches nearly three kilometres.
- It has a natural draft of around 20 metres.
- It also features India’s first home-built, AI-powered Vessel Traffic Management System, developed with IIT Madras.
- It is equipped with fully automated yard cranes and remotely operated ship-to-shore cranes for faster and safer operations.
- Unlike most Indian ports, Vizhinjam experiences minimal sand movement along the coast (littoral drift), which reduces maintenance costs.
- Vizhinjam’s strategic location—just 10 nautical miles from a key international shipping route—and naturally deep waters make it ideal for accommodating large container vessels.
- Until now, 75% of India’s transshipment traffic was handled abroad, leading to foreign exchange losses. Vizhinjam aims to change that by reclaiming a substantial share of this traffic.
- The port now shares routes with global hubs like Shanghai, Singapore, and Busan (South Korea).
- Plans are also underway to turn Vizhinjam into a multi-modal logistics hub, with direct highway connectivity via NH-66, Kerala’s first cloverleaf interchange, and an upcoming railway link to the national network.
