Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday received the first ship that docked at Vizhinjam International Port. The Chief Minister flagged- in Chinese ship Shenhua 15, which arrived at the port.

Chief Minister Vijayan, joined by Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and various state ministers, waved a green flag, signalling the tugboats to push the huge Chinese ship — Zhen Hua 15 — from the wharf to the docking yard.

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As the vessel touched the dock, firecrackers were burst and balloons released to welcome it.

Speaking on the occasion, Vijayan said that some international lobbies acted against Vizhinjam port but the project was made a reality.

Opposition Leader Satheesan said that it was Oommen Chandy, who made Vizhinjam port a reality and he took all the allegations of piracy and corruption on his chest.

The Zhen Hua 15, a massive Chinese vessel carrying huge container-handling cranes, arrived at Vizhinjam International Seaport, developed by Adani Group, on Thursday.

The port, which is situated near Thiruvananthapuram, is being built at a projected cost of Rs 7,700 crore and is expected to be commissioned by May next year. It is being constructed under the public-private partnership model.

Once the port becomes operational, it will allow huge mother ships to be anchored on the Indian coast. On commissioning, the port will be able to anchor two mother ships at a time, each of which can carry 15,000 to 20,000 containers.

The project, which was scheduled to be commissioned in 2019, got delayed due to several issues. In 2022, the construction works were stalled following the intense agitation by the fish workers of the region, primarily members of the Latin Catholic community.

Kerala is hoping that Vizhinjam port will become a crucial presence in India’s cargo movement and Thiruvananthapuram will emerge as the next global port city.

Meanwhile, the CPI-M-led ruling LDF and the Congress-led Opposition UDF are engaged in a bitter political slugfest over claiming credit for the Vizhinjam port project.

While the UDF has demanded to name the port after former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, the LDF shot back, saying it was a project initiated during the time of EK Nayanar.

The UDF convenor MM Hassan said that the Vizhinjam port project came to fruition as a result of the efforts of the UDF government and former Chief Minister Chandy’s development vision and determination.