After the modest beginning of the first phase of the limited-scale commercial operation, Vizhinjam International Seaport will become a beehive of activity again this week as another mother vessel of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) is on its way to Vizhinjam. The mother vessel called MSC Deila is expected to call at Vizhinjam by August 30.
The ship with a capacity to carry 13,988 (twenty-foot equivalent units or TEU) containers is coming from Mauritius, and will have a stopover at Mumbai before reaching here. The ship with a length overall (LOA) of 366 metres and 51-metre beam will be followed by another feeder vessel called MSC Adu V, which will trans-ship the containers from here to other ports. The MSC ADU V has a LOA of 294.12 m, while the beam is 32.2 m. The feeder vessel has a container handling capacity of 4,738 TEU.
After the berthing of San Fernando, chartered by Maersk, the first mother vessel that called at the port here on July 11 as part of the trial run of the port and subsequent arrival of two back-to-back feeder vessels to trans-ship the containers from here, the port authorities have been reviewing the performance of the port operations, including the performance of the automated cranes installed in the port.
There would be a brief pause in the port operations after the berthing of the second mother vessel and feeder vessel as part of streamlining the performance of the port. The port developer is hoping to start the full-fledged commercial operation of the port by the end of September or October, a little ahead of the scheduled commissioning in December. Ahead of the commissioning, Vizhinjam port authorities have decided to offer vessel-related charges (VRC) here lower than the rates by Colombo Port to woo the shipping giants to the coast of Kerala.