Vizhinjam, India's first trans-shipment port, berths first mother vessel

India's first deepwater container trans-shipment port coming up at Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala - in a public-private partnership between central and state governments and Adani Ports & SEZ - has berthed the first mother-vessel at the port.

Global shipping major Maersk's 'San Fernando' mother ship docked at the port with over 2,000 containers to start trial runs. Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Adani Ports and SEZ  managing director Karan Adani will officially inaugurate the first phase of the mammoth project tomorrow.

In the ₹8,493 crore first phase, Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited (AVPPL) has constructed a 3,000-metre breakwater and 800-metre container berthing facility to simultaneously dock two motherships, from which small feeder ships can transport freight to other ports and inland destinations. The port is located barely 16 kilometres away from the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport and is in the suburbs of Thiruvananthapuram city. The plans include constructing a 9-kilometre railway underground tunnel from the port to the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram city to link highways to Chennai and other parts of the country.

Sources say currently Mundra and Vishakhapatnam are the only two mother-vessel calling ports in India. Vizhinjam has a natural draft (depth of sea from the waterline) of 20 metres, which will save costs on dredging. The port’s proximity to Colombo port and the international sea route is seen as a major advantage in transforming the port into one of Asia’s busiest ports and trans-shipment hubs in future. The port lies just 10 nautical miles (19 km) from the busy east-west international shipping route connecting Europe, the Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia, and the Far East. The Vizhinjam port is also expected to become a major hub for refuelling and crew change. AVPPL is also constructing a cruise terminal with two dedicated cruise berths, as Kerala and southern Tamil Nadu are prominent tourist destinations.

After completion of the second phase by 2028, the port will have four kilometres of breakwater and a two-kilometre-long berthing facility to handle 30 lakh containers a year, from 10 lakh containers in the first phase. On completion in four phases, the seaport may have the capacity to handle half of the container transhipment needs of India. Currently, most containers originating from or destined for India are typically trans-shipped at hubs like Colombo in Sri Lanka, Salalah in Oman, Port of Jebel Ali in Dubai and Singapore Port, say sources.

Adani was the sole bidder to win the tender and the Kerala Government awarded the project in 2015. Construction began on 5 December 2015, with a timeline to start the first phase in four years. Unlike other Adani projects which mostly take off before deadlines, Vizhinjam port got delayed due to rough weather like the Okhi cyclone, sea conditions, shortage of granite to construct breakwater, resistance from surrounding fishing communities and Church groups on relocation and land acquisition issues etc. While Adani spent 60% of the first phase port construction cost of ₹4,089 crore, 40% was given as Viability Gap Funding (VGF) by the Centre and Kerala Governments. Another ₹5,000 crore was to be paid by the Kerala Government for building breakwaters and roads.