Vizhinjam International Seaport

About Vizhinjam International Seaport:

• Location: It is located at Vizhinjam, a coastal town in Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala.
• It is designed primarily to cater to container transhipment besides multi-purpose and break bulk cargo. 
• It is developed in a landlord model with a Public Private Partnership component on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (“DBFOT”) basis. 
• The private partner, the Concessionaire M/s Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited has, commenced the construction on 5th December 2015.
• The Port is merely a 10 NM diversion from the international east-west shipping route and is also close to the national/regional road and rail network.
• There would be about 30 berths, most of which would be capable of handling Mother Vessels.
• Significance:
  • It is the only transhipment hub in the Indian subcontinent, closest to the international shipping routes, and is centrally located on the Indian coastline.
  • Around 95 per cent of India’s foreign trade is conducted through the sea route. In value terms, this works out to 70 per cent of the foreign trade.
  • Nearly 30 percent of the freight movement takes place through the international shipping route South of the Indian peninsula, which passes 10 nautical miles off Vizhinjam.
  • Currently, India does not have a deep-water container transhipment terminal and depends on Colombo, Singapore and Salalah ports.
  • This results in a significant loss of foreign currency and revenue, estimated to be about Rs 2,500 crore a year. 

Q1) Which are the major ports in India?

Major ports in India are Chennai Port, Kolkata Port, Haldia Port (West Bengal), Jawaharlal Nehru Port (Maharashtra), Kamarajar Port or Ennore Port (Chennai), Kandla Port (Gujarat), Kochin Port (Kerala), New Mangalore Port (Karnataka), Mormugao Port (Goa), Mumbai Port, Paradip Port (Odisha), Tuticorin Port (Tamil Nadu), Visakhapatnam Port (Andhra Pradesh).

Source: Docking of first ship at Vizhinjam port to be delayed by 10 days