When Zhen Hua 15 — a heavy load cargo carrier sailing from the East China sea — unloads at Vizhinjam port this Sunday, it’ll do more than just set down the site’s first gigantic cranes. It’ll also put India on the map for world’s biggest container ships.
Located near the southernmost tip of the country, the Vizhinjam transshipment container port — the first of its kind in India that will be inaugurated on Oct. 15 — will allow India to grab a bigger slice of the international maritime trade currently dominated by China. It will also bolster its aspirations to be an alternative manufacturing hub by reducing logistics costs for cargo coming to and from the country.

The new terminal will be another feather in the cap of Gautam Adani’s conglomerate, which faced a scathing short seller attack in January alleging corporate malfeasance — charges the Adani Group has denied. With a dominance that already spans ports, mines, airports and power utilities, Vizhinjam will further cement the billionaire’s status as India’s infrastructure king.
The proximity to the international shipping routes that accounts for 30 per cent of global cargo traffic and a natural channel that goes up to 24 meters below the sea makes Vizhinjam an ideal hub for some of the world’s biggest ships to call in. Until now, the biggest container ships have been skipping India because its harbors weren’t deep enough to handle such vessels and docking at neighboring ports such as Colombo, Dubai and Singapore.

Source: Business Standard