Vizhinjam International Seaport begins full-scale EXIM operations

Why in the News

Kerala’s Vizhinjam International Seaport began full scale export and import operations, moving India’s first dedicated deepwater transshipment terminal from handling mother ship calls to regular cargo work. The shift tests whether a domestic deepwater port can pull back the transshipment cargo that Colombo, Singapore and Salalah have historically handled for India.

What is the Vizhinjam International Seaport?

1. About: Vizhinjam is India’s first dedicated deepwater container transshipment port, located near Thiruvananthapuram on the southern tip of Kerala.
2. Ownership model: It is developed on the landlord port model, with the Government of Kerala owning the asset and a private concessionaire building and operating the terminal.
3. Concession: The concession agreement was signed in August 2015 for a period of 40 years, with provision for extension.
4. Status in law: It is a non major port under the Government of Kerala, unlike the twelve major ports administered by the Union government.
5. Automation: It is India’s first port to use a fully automated container handling system with remotely operated ship to shore cranes.
6. Operational milestones: The first mother ship called in July 2024, commercial operations began in December 2024, and the port was formally dedicated in May 2025.

What is transshipment?

1. About: Transshipment is the transfer of containers from one vessel to another at an intermediate port before they reach their final destination.
2. Why it exists: Very large mainline vessels call only at a few deep draft hubs, and smaller feeder vessels then distribute the boxes to shallower regional ports.
3. The commercial value: The hub port earns handling charges twice on the same container, once on discharge from the mother vessel and once on loading to the feeder.

What is natural draft and why does it matter?

1. About: Draft is the depth of water a vessel needs beneath its keel, and natural draft is the depth a harbour has without dredging.
2. Vizhinjam’s advantage: The site has a natural depth of about 20 metres close to the shore, deep enough to take the largest container vessels in service.
3. The cost effect: A naturally deep harbour avoids the recurring capital and maintenance dredging bill that shallow Indian ports carry every year.
4. The sedimentation factor: The site has minimal littoral drift, so the channel does not silt up at the rate seen at river mouth ports.

What is Viability Gap Funding?

1. About: Viability Gap Funding is a one time or deferred grant given by the government to a public private partnership project that is economically justified but not commercially viable on its own.
2. Use here: Central and State assistance under this route covered part of the capital cost of the first phase of the port.

Why has India depended on foreign transshipment hubs?

1. Scale of leakage: A large majority of India’s transshipment containers have historically been handled outside the country.
2. The dominant hub: Colombo in Sri Lanka has handled the single largest share of India’s transshipped boxes, aided by its position on the same shipping lane.
3. Other hubs: Singapore and Salalah in Oman handle much of the remainder, along with Port Klang in Malaysia.
4. The reason: Indian ports lacked the natural draft and the crane capacity to receive the largest mainline vessels, so mother ships called at neighbouring hubs instead.
5. The cost: Routing a container through a foreign hub adds an extra handling charge and transit time on every box, and the associated revenue leaves the country.
6. The strategic exposure: Dependence on a foreign port for the movement of national trade is a vulnerability during a diplomatic or economic dispute.

What makes the Vizhinjam site suitable for a hub?

1. Proximity to the shipping lane: The port lies about 10 nautical miles from the international east and west shipping route linking the Suez Canal to the Strait of Malacca.
2. Minimal deviation cost: A short deviation from the mainline route means a mother ship loses little time by calling, which is the decisive commercial factor for a hub.
3. Deep water close to shore: The natural draft of about 20 metres is available near the coast, which shortens the approach channel.
4. Low maintenance dredging: Limited sedimentation keeps the recurring dredging requirement low compared with other Indian container ports.
5. Southern position: Its location at the southern tip of the peninsula makes it the natural first and last Indian call on the route.

What does the move to full scale export and import operations add?

1. From transshipment to trade: The port moves from handling mother ship calls and transfers to handling India’s own export and import containers.
2. Direct connectivity for shippers: Exporters in Kerala and neighbouring States can load on a mainline vessel without an intermediate feeder leg through a foreign hub.
3. Time and cost saving: Removing a feeder leg cuts transit days and one round of handling charges from the door to door cost.
4. Revenue retention: Handling charges, customs revenue and ancillary services are retained domestically rather than paid to a foreign hub operator.
5. Feeder network effect: Regular export and import volume gives the port a base load that makes it more attractive for shipping lines to add services.
6. Economic linkage: Full operations activate customs, warehousing, logistics and bunkering activity in the port’s hinterland.

Challenges to the Vizhinjam International Seaport

1. Hinterland connectivity: A hub needs rail and road links to move export and import cargo inland at scale. e.g. the dedicated rail link and the road connectivity to the national highway network for Vizhinjam are still being completed.
2. Competition from an established hub: Shipping lines change hub calls only when the switch is commercially compelling. e.g. Colombo has long established feeder networks, bunkering and repair services that a new port must match.
3. Fisher community livelihood: Port construction alters the coastline and affects traditional fishing grounds. e.g. the Vizhinjam project faced sustained protests by the local fishing community over shoreline erosion and loss of fishing access.
4. Coastal erosion and shoreline change: Breakwaters interrupt the natural movement of sand along the coast. e.g. erosion at nearby Kerala coastal settlements has been attributed by residents to the breakwater and has required protective works.
5. Concentration risk in a single operator: Container handling capacity concentrated with one private group reduces competitive pressure on tariffs. e.g. a single group already operates a large share of India’s private container terminal capacity.
6. Cyclone and monsoon exposure: The Arabian Sea coast faces intensifying cyclonic activity that halts port operations. e.g. Cyclone Ockhi in 2017 caused heavy loss of life among fishers off the Kerala and Tamil Nadu coast.
7. Capacity ramp up risk: Later phases depend on demand materialising at the pace assumed in the concession. e.g. the full build capacity target depends on winning transshipment volume currently committed to competing hubs.

Conclusion

India has for decades paid a foreign hub to handle its own transshipment containers, and Vizhinjam is the first Indian facility with the natural draft and route position to change that. The port has now moved from the transshipment calls it began with in December 2024 to full scale export and import operations from 18 August 2026, which gives it a domestic cargo base alongside transfer volumes. The next milestone is the completion of the later development phases and the dedicated rail and road connectivity that will decide whether the hinterland can feed the quay.

Ports and Maritime Sector in India

1. About: India’s port system handles the overwhelming share of the country’s external trade, moving bulk, break bulk, liquid and containerised cargo.
2. Trade dependence: Around 95 per cent of India’s trade by volume and about 70 per cent by value moves through sea ports.
3. Port structure: India has 12 major ports administered by the Union government and around 200 notified non major ports under State governments.
4. Coastline: India has a coastline of about 11,098 kilometres across nine coastal States and four Union Territories, with an exclusive economic zone of about 2.37 million square kilometres.
5. Location advantage: The peninsula sits astride the east and west shipping lane connecting the Suez Canal to the Strait of Malacca, through which a large share of world trade passes.
6. Structural weakness: Indian ports have historically lacked deep draft berths, so mainline vessels called at foreign hubs and Indian ports were served by feeders.
7. Institutional structure: The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways administers the sector, with State Maritime Boards governing non major ports.

Constitutional Framework Governing Ports

1. Entry 27 of the Union List: Covers ports declared by or under law made by Parliament to be major ports, including their delimitation and the powers of port authorities there.
2. Entry 25 of the Union List: Covers maritime shipping and navigation, and provision of education and training for the merchant marine.
3. Entry 31 of the Concurrent List: Covers ports other than those declared to be major ports, the basis of State jurisdiction over ports such as Vizhinjam.
4. Entry 32 of the Concurrent List: Covers shipping and navigation on inland waterways as regards mechanically propelled vessels.
5. Article 297: Vests in the Union all lands, minerals and other things of value underlying the territorial waters, continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.
6. Entry 41 of the Union List: Covers trade and commerce with foreign countries and import and export across customs frontiers.

Laws and Rules Governing Ports and Shipping

1. Indian Ports Act, 1908: The long standing statute governing port limits, port dues, pilotage and safety of shipping at ports.
2. Indian Ports Act, 2025: Enacted to replace the 1908 statute, updating port administration, State Maritime Boards, pollution control and dispute resolution.
3. Major Port Authorities Act, 2021: Replaced the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 and gave the twelve major ports autonomy in tariff setting and land management through Port Authority Boards.
4. Tariff autonomy: The Act removed tariff fixation from the Tariff Authority for Major Ports for new projects, allowing market based rates.
5. Merchant Shipping Act, 1958: Governs registration of Indian vessels, seafarer welfare, safety and marine pollution obligations.
6. Customs Act, 1962: Governs clearance of imported and exported goods and the designation of customs ports and bonded warehouses.
7. Marine Aids to Navigation Act, 2021: Replaced the Lighthouse Act, 1927 and modernised the framework for navigational aids and vessel traffic services.
8. Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2019: Issued under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, regulating construction and port development along the coast.
9. Inland Vessels Act, 2021: Provides a uniform national regime for registration and safe operation of inland vessels, relevant to port hinterland movement by waterway.

Back2Basics: Sagarmala Programme

1. Administering ministry: Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
2. Launch year: Approved in 2015 as the flagship programme for port led development.
3. Aim: To reduce the logistics cost of export and import and domestic cargo by using India’s coastline and inland waterways more intensively.
4. The four pillars: Port modernisation and new port development, port connectivity enhancement, port linked industrialisation, and coastal community development.
5. Targeted beneficiaries: Exporters and importers, coastal shipping operators, port linked industrial clusters and coastal communities including fishers.
6. Design feature: Projects are implemented by ports, State governments, central ministries and special purpose vehicles, with the Sagarmala Development Company providing funding support.
7. Coastal community component: Funds fishing harbours, fish landing centres and skill development for coastal populations.

Government Initiatives in the Maritime Sector

1. Maritime India Vision 2030: Sets out the ten year blueprint for port capacity, connectivity, shipbuilding and inland waterways.
2. Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047: Extends the roadmap to 2047 with targets for port capacity, transshipment share and green shipping.
3. PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan: Integrates port, rail, road and waterway projects on a common geographic platform to remove last mile connectivity gaps.
4. Harit Sagar Green Port Guidelines: Set targets for reducing carbon intensity at ports, including shore power and alternative fuel bunkering.
5. Maritime Development Fund: Announced to provide long term low cost finance for shipbuilding, ship acquisition and port infrastructure.
6. Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy: Provides assistance to Indian shipyards to compete with subsidised foreign shipbuilders.
7. Cabotage relaxation: Allows foreign flagged vessels to carry transshipment containers between Indian ports, a measure intended to make Indian hub ports viable.
8. Jalvahak Scheme and National Waterways development: Encourages cargo movement on inland waterways to reduce road congestion to and from ports.

Key Facts about Vizhinjam and India’s Ports

1. First of its kind: Vizhinjam is India’s first dedicated deepwater container transshipment port and its first semi automated container terminal.
2. Location: Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala, on the Arabian Sea coast near the southern tip of the Indian peninsula.
3. Natural draft: About 20 metres close to shore, among the deepest at any Indian port.
4. Distance from the shipping lane: About 10 nautical miles from the international east and west shipping route.
5. Concession model: Landlord model public private partnership with the Government of Kerala, signed in 2015 for 40 years.
6. Major ports: India’s twelve major ports include Deendayal (Kandla), Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (Ennore), V.O. Chidambaranar (Tuticorin), Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Syama Prasad Mookerjee (Kolkata).
7. Busiest container port: Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra handles the largest container volume among Indian ports.
8. Newest major port: Vadhavan in Maharashtra was approved as a deepwater major port to add mainline capacity on the west coast.

Challenges in India’s Port and Maritime Sector

1. Transshipment leakage: A large share of India’s container transshipment is still handled at foreign hubs. e.g. Colombo has historically handled the biggest single share of India’s transshipped boxes.
2. Hinterland connectivity gaps: Rail and road links to ports lag behind quay side capacity. e.g. dedicated freight corridor connectivity reached some ports years after their capacity expansion was complete.
3. Low draft at legacy ports: Older river and estuary ports cannot take the largest vessels without continuous dredging. e.g. Kolkata port requires sustained maintenance dredging on the Hooghly to keep its channel usable.
4. Turnaround time and dwell time: Container dwell time at Indian ports remains higher than at competing hubs. e.g. Indian container dwell time has been benchmarked unfavourably against Singapore and Colombo in trade facilitation assessments.
5. Small national fleet: Indian flagged tonnage carries only a small share of the country’s own trade, so freight payments go abroad. e.g. Indian ships carry a small fraction of India’s export and import cargo, with the rest on foreign flagged vessels.
6. Weak shipbuilding base: India holds a marginal share of global shipbuilding orders. e.g. global shipbuilding is dominated by China, South Korea and Japan, which together hold the overwhelming majority of the order book.
7. Coastal environment and livelihood conflict: Port expansion collides with fishing livelihoods and coastal ecology. e.g. the Vizhinjam project saw prolonged protests over erosion and loss of fishing grounds.
8. Climate and disaster exposure: Ports are exposed to cyclones, storm surge and sea level rise. e.g. Cyclone Fani and Cyclone Amphan forced extended shutdowns at east coast ports.

Way Forward

1. Complete port connectivity projects on schedule: Finish the dedicated rail spur and highway links so hinterland cargo can reach the quay without road congestion.
2. Consolidate transshipment volume: Use cabotage relaxation, competitive tariffs and customs facilitation to make an Indian hub call cheaper than a Colombo call.
3. Invest in feeder shipping capacity: Build an Indian flagged feeder fleet so the distribution leg of transshipment is also domestically earned.
4. Institutionalise coastal community compensation: Provide time bound rehabilitation, alternative livelihood and shoreline protection commitments as part of every port concession.
5. Monitor shoreline change scientifically: Mandate independent long term shoreline and sediment monitoring around breakwaters, with published results.
6. Diversify operators: Encourage more than one terminal operator across the national container network to keep tariffs competitive.
7. Green the port: Deploy shore power, alternative fuel bunkering and electrified handling equipment in line with the green port guidelines.
8. Digitise clearance: Extend single window clearance and port community systems to cut dwell time to the levels prevailing at competing hubs.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2026] In what way(s) does the Vizhinjam International Seaport represent a structural shift in India’s maritime trade and logistics policy?
1. By functioning exclusively as a domestic cargo hub to reduce reliance on coastal shipping and eliminate the need for foreign collaborations.
2. By focusing primarily on passenger cruise tourism and heritage shipping to increase Kerala’s profile as a maritime heritage destination.
3. By leveraging its natural deep draft and strategic location to reduce dependence on foreign trans-shipment ports, enhance revenue retention, and reposition India in regional maritime trade.
Select the answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2
(c) 2 and 3
(d) 3 only
Answer: (d)”