Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd. (APSEZ) has announced the arrival of its first containership at the Vizhinjam port, India.
The Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan, launched the event, which was presided over by Shri V. N. Vasavan, Kerala’s Minister for Ports. The chief guest was Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways.
Adani noted that this also marks the debut of India’s first automated port, complete with cutting-edge infrastructure and facilities capable of handling huge ships, contemporary container handling equipment, and world-class automation and information technology systems.
San Fernando, a 300-metre-long container vessel owned by Maersk with a capacity of 8,000-9,000 TEU, will use the port’s facilities to discharge about 2,000 containers and relocate 400 containers within the vessel.
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Karan Adani, Managing Director of APSEZ said: “No other port in India – including our own highly advanced Mundra Port – has these technologies. What we have already installed here is South Asia’s most advanced container handling technology.
“Once we complete the automation and the Vessel Traffic Management System, Vizhinjam will be in a class of its own as one of the most technologically sophisticated transshipment ports in the world.”
Adani revealed that 25 per cent of India’s container cargo is transshipped on route to its destination.
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Vizhinjam will not only facilitate the movement of transshipment traffic into India, but the strategically located port will also play a critical role in handling traffic along major routes connecting India.
These routes include the US, Europe, Africa, and the Indian subcontinent, as well as traffic between the US, Europe, Africa, and the Far East, thus playing an important role in international trade.