The highly anticipated Vizhinjam Port, poised to become Kerala's international seaport, is on track to be fully operational by December 2024, as confirmed by Rajesh Jha, the CEO of Adani Vizhinjam Port Company, during a press conference on Thursday. This significant development has been a long-awaited project led by Adani Ports since 2015.

In May 2023, the first phase of construction at the port will reach completion, marking a pivotal milestone. Following this achievement, the port will initiate operations on a trial basis. Soon after, full commissioning will follow, substantially reducing the time for cargo ships to access Vizhinjam Port. Once operational, Vizhinjam will hold the distinction of being India's only port capable of accommodating even the world's largest cargo ships.

The synergy between the development of the state, notably the capital city, and the port is expected to drive mutual growth and progress. In the first phase, the port will possess a capacity of 1.5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), with plans to increase this capacity to 2.5 million TEUs in the second phase and further to 3 million TEUs in the third phase.

During the initial phase, the port will feature a total of 32 cranes for cargo handling, comprising eight shore cranes and 24 yard cranes.

Notably, the port celebrated a significant milestone by welcoming its first cargo vessel, the Chinese cargo ship named ""Zhen Hua 15,"" which carried a shore crane and two yard cranes to the state's coast. The ship received a warm 'water salute' from tugboats as it approached the port. After departing from Gujarat's Mundra Port last week, the vessel is scheduled to dock at Vizhinjam Port on October 14, following a delay due to typhoon conditions at the Shanghai and Vietnam coasts.

The official reception of the vessel is planned for October 15 at Vizhinjam, where it will be welcomed by the Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Kerala Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan. The seaport has arranged for four tugs to assist in bringing the ship to its destination.

Vizhinjam Seaport is slated to function primarily as a transshipment port, with 90% of containers arriving on larger mother ships to be transshipped onto smaller vessels for delivery to their final destinations. The remaining 10% of cargo will be transported via road and rail. In the future, the seaport plans to accommodate domestic containers as well.