Context: Recently, the first mothership carrying cargo from the Xiamen Port in China called at the Vizhinjam international seaport, India’s first deep-water container transshipment port.

• India’s first deepwater transshipment port, the Vizhinjam international seaport near Thiruvananthapuram, received its first mothership (a mothership refers to a large cargo vessel that acts as a central hub for the transshipment of goods.).

• The MV San Fernando, carrying 2,000 containers, was given a grand welcome at the port. The berthing of the ship was part of a trial run at the port before it is slated to open for commercial operations.

Why India needs a container transshipment port?

Lacks infrastructure to deal with ultra-large container ships

• India has 13 major ports. However, the country lacks a landside mega-port and terminal infrastructure to deal with ultra-large container ships.

• Hence, nearly 75 per cent of India’s transshipment cargo is handled at ports outside India, mainly Colombo, Singapore, and Klang.

• In fiscal 2021-22, the total transshipment cargo of India was about 4.6 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), out of which about 4.2 million TEUs were handled outside India.

Othe benefits

• Developing such ports will accrue significant benefits such as forex savings, foreign direct investment, increased economic activity at other Indian Ports.

• It will also lead to the development of related logistics infrastructure, employment generation, improved operation/logistics efficiencies and increase in revenue share.

• Several other allied businesses viz. ship chandlery-ship supplies, ship repair, crew change facility, logistics value-added services, warehousing and bunkering also come up at the transshipment port.

Increased economic activities

• A deepwater container transshipment port can attract a large share of the container transshipment traffic.

• Currently, this is being diverted to Colombo, Singapore and Dubai.

• It can also ensure India’s economic development and open up immense job opportunities.

Vizhinjam International Seaport Project

• The Vizhinjam International Transhipment Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport is an ambitious project taken up by the Government of Kerala. It’s India’s first deep-water container transshipment port.

• It is designed to primarily cater to the transshipment and gateway container business with provision for a cruise terminal, liquid bulk berth and facilities for additional terminals.

Key features of the Vizhinjam port

• India’s first international deepwater transshipment port

• This is India’s first international deepwater transshipment port with a natural depth of more than 18 meters, scalable up to 20 meters.

• This depth is crucial to get large vessels and mother ships.

• It is designed to cater to container transshipment, multi-purpose, and break-bulk cargo.

• The cost of movement of containers to and from foreign destinations is likely to come down.

• Strategic location

• The port is located ten nautical miles from the international shipping route.

• The port is expected to compete with Colombo, Singapore, and Dubai for winning trans-shipment traffic.

• Increased capacity and minimum maintenance

• Its capacity in the first phase is one million TEU, which can be increased to 6.2 million TEU.

• Other features include minimal littoral drift along the coast and virtually no requirement for any maintenance dredging.

• Economic benefits

• The project is expected to generate 5,000 direct job opportunities, apart from giving a boost to an industrial corridor and cruise tourism.

• Vizhinjam port offers large-scale automation for quick turnaround of vessels with state-of-the-art infrastructure to handle Megamax container ships.

• This will accrue significant benefits such as forex savings, foreign direct investment, increased economic activity at other Indian Ports, enhanced logistics infrastructure and thus, efficiencies, employment generation, and increased revenue share.