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Historic moment: First container ship reaches Vizhinjam seaport in Kerala

The ship, which embarked on its voyage from Xiamen, China reached Vizhinjam after completing the journey in eight days.

Historic moment: First container ship reaches Vizhinjam seaport in Kerala

The first container ship ‘San Fernando’ with around 2,000 containers reached Vizhinjam international seaport, India’s first deepwater container transshipment port, Thursday morning in a major feat.

The ship, which embarked on its voyage from Xiamen, China reached Vizhinjam after completing the journey in eight days. The vessel, which reached the outer area around 7 am on Thursday, was welcomed with a water salute led by the large tug Ocean Prestige and smaller tug boats.The local residents welcomed the ship with flagpoles and waving national flags.

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The container ship will begin offloading the containers soon after berthing. The ship will depart for Colombo following the inaugural ceremony on Friday.

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The inaugural ceremony at 10 am on Friday,will be attended by Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, union shipping minister Sarbanand Sonowal, Central and State ministers, people’s representatives and other dignitaries . Thousands of people are expected to witness the historic event.

With the opening of Vizhinjam International Port, a new chapter is opening in the development history of Kerala.

The port built with a total investment of Rs 8,867 crore, is one of the major flagship infrastructure projects promoted by the Kerala government with the Adani Group through a public–private partnership (PPP) mode.

The port will handle 400 containers, leveraging its state-of-the-art facilities to provide world-class services, marking a significant milestone in Vizhinjam Port’s operations.

Equipped with modern equipment and advanced automation and IT systems, Vizhinjam will become India’s first semi-automated port, expected to be fully commissioned in October 2024.

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