Vizhinjam Port welcomes 100th commercial vessel
Port started commercial operations in the first week of December after a trial run of four months.
Vizhinjam International Port in Kerala welcomed its 100th commercial vessel - MSC Michela.
MSC Michela, with an overall length of 299.87 metre and capacity of over 9,400 TEUs, was built in 2016 (eight years old) and currently sailing under the flag of Madeira, according to data from vesselfinder.
"The arrival of MSC Michela, the 100th commercial vessel to dock at Vizhinjam Port in under six months, is another milestone in India's rapid emergence as a global transshipment hub," Karan Adani, MD, Adani Ports and SEZ, the operator of the port, wrote on X. "With automated container handling, this new port in Kerala is a forerunner of our drive towards leveraging state-of-the-art technology in ports and logistics."
The port started commercial operations in the first week of December after a trial run of four months.
Vizhinjam International Seaport (VISL) – a company fully owned by the Government of Kerala operated under the public private partnership (PPP) model, was incorporated to implement the flagship project – the Vizhinjam International Seaport Project, the country’s first deep-water transhipment port.
Vizhinjam Port is the largest private sector investment in Kerala.
The port recently raised Rs 2,100 crore as debt from NABARD for a tenure of 15 years including two years of moratorium for principal repayment.
The port reported an income of Rs 74 crore (grant from the state government) for the year ended March 31, 2023