VIZHINJAM PORT
NEW GATE WAY TO INDIA
The first idea for the greenfield port at Vizhinjam in the capital city of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram was conceived by Travancore Diwan Sir Chetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer(Sir C. P), who was an Indian lawyer, administrator, and politician, about 25 years ago. The initial project was proposed as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) – Private Services Model. After two rounds of bidding and tenders, The project was awarded to Adani Ports(AP) and SEZ, the sole bidder on 10 June 2015. The Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL) is an ambitious step undertaken by the government of Kerala as a part of its various programs for the development of the state. APSEZ is developing this deep-sea water multi-purpose port as India’s first Mega Transshipment Container Terminal. Located on the Indian coastline, It is set to be a world-class, futuristic port that is the only transshipment hub in the Indian subcontinent, closest to international shipping routes with a natural draft of 20-24 m & minimal littoral drift. VISL offers large-scale automation for the quick turnaround of vessels with state-of-the-art infrastructure to handle Megamax containerships. Its capacity in the current phase is about 1 million TEUs which is estimated to rise to 6.2 million TEUs in the upcoming phases.
The main advantages of Vizhinjam are:
− Availability of 20m contour within one nautical mile from the coast.
− Minimal littoral drift along the coast, hardly any maintenance dredging required.
− Links to national/regional road, and rail network
− Flexibility in design and expansion being a Greenfield project
− Proximity to the International shipping route