Thiruvananthapuram: San Fernando’, the container ship, arrived at Vizhinjam International Seaport on Thursday, July 11, 2024. The ship set sail from Xiamen Port in China with a capacity of 8,000 to 9,000 TEUs and will unload around 2,000 containers at Vizhinjam. It will utilize the services of Vizhinjam Port to handle 400 containers, where international standard services will be provided.
The ship, which departed from Sri Lanka, reached the outer area before 7 am on Thursday. The harbor pilot guided the ship to port. The vessel received a water salute led by the large tug Ocean Prestige and smaller tug Dolphin Series 27, 28, and 35.
Upon berthing, the ship will soon offload its containers and depart for Colombo following the inaugural ceremony on Friday, July 12. With the arrival of ‘San Fernando’, a container ship, the trial operation of Kerala’s dream project, Vizhinjam Port, has been fulfilled. Equipped with modern equipment, advanced automation, and IT systems, Vizhinjam will become India’s first semi-automated port, expected to be fully commissioned in September/October 2024.
“With ongoing preparations for the port’s full commissioning, trial operations are set to begin. The inaugural ceremony, scheduled for July 12, will be attended by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who will receive the first container ship,” said State Port Minister V N Vasavan. This marks the beginning of regular commercial ship services, including container ships, at Vizhinjam Port, the minister told reporters.
The ceremony, graced by the presence of Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, central and state ministers, dignitaries, officials, and representatives of the public, is scheduled to begin at 10 am on July 12. Thousands of people are awaiting to witness the historic event. The minister, however, dismissed the controversy around not inviting former Ports Minister Ahammed Devarkovil and Opposition Leader VD Satheesan to the ceremony. “This is just a trial run. Everyone will be invited when the full commissioning takes place,” he said.
The minister said that construction works aiming to provide world-class services have been completed, paving the way for international vessels to call at the port. The trial operation, starting on July 12, will continue for 2-3 months. During this period, the port will witness the arrival of large vessels. Within a few weeks of the trial operation, a large container ship with a length of around 400 meters will arrive at the port. The full commissioning of the port is expected to happen in September/October. Leading shipping companies worldwide will follow suit. Large vessels will unload containers at the port and then leave, making way for smaller vessels to arrive at Vizhinjam and transport these containers to various ports in the country and abroad. This will mark the beginning of full-scale transshipment operations at Vizhinjam Port, the minister added.
The Vizhinjam International Seaport project is promoted by the Kerala Government in partnership with the Adani Group through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. An SPV, Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd (AVPPL), was formed for this purpose. AVPPL entered into a concession agreement with the Kerala Ports Department on August 17, 2015, and construction work commenced on December 5, 2015. Phase 2 and 3 of the project are expected to be completed by 2028.
