Shri Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development; Ganga Rejuvenation; Shri Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamilnadu; Shri Pon. Radhakrishnan, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Finance and Shipping; Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Road Transport;Highways, Shipping, Chemical; Fertilizers. jointly flag off the Inaugural call of the first Mainline Vessel to Dakshin Bharat Gateway Container Terminal through Video Conference
M.V. Wan Hai 510 is a mainline vessel operated by Wan Hai Lines Limited, has made the Maiden voyage to Dakshin Baharat Gateway Container Terminal, V.O. Chidambaranar Port today on 12.12.2018. The Panamax class container vessel with Length Over All (LOA) of 268.8 metre and Breadth extreme of 32.2 metres has a container carrying capacity of 4333 TEUs. The China India-2 (CI-2) connects two Malaysian Ports Penang & Port Klang and Chinese Ports like HongKong, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou. The service is operated with 6 vessels with calls to Tuticorin Port every Tuesday.
Shri Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, in his address has affirmed that the call of the first mainline container vessel to the Port will be a game changer in container traffic of South India. Moreover, the customers can save approximately 50 US $ per container on the Colombo handling charges. With this mainline call, V.O. Chidambaranar Port has become a mainline vessel Port and with the high potential it has got, it will soon become a transshipment Port in the near future. In the last four years, Port has made investments to the tune of Rs. 1,500 Crores towards improvement of infrastructure.
In the address by the Chief Minister Tamilnadu, Shri Edappadi K. Palaniswami has stated that today’s historic mainline service to far east countries will boost exports in Tamilnadu. The initiative taken by the Port will boost overall economic growth in Southern Tamilnadu. Shri Pon. Radhakrishnan, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Finance and Shipping in his statement has affirmed that, the Port that was declared as a major Port in the year 1974 has now grown as a major Container handling Port in the Country. This historic event today has made the Port able to transit the containers directly to far east countries instead of calling Colombo Port.
Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Chemical & Fertilizers in his address stated that, With the strategic location of the Port being so close to the East West Trade route and a draft of 14 metres, the Port is poised to attract more mainline vessels. He further affirmed that the Port is all set to become a transshipment hub of South India with the added advantage of handling gateway cargo as well.
In the formal function that followed after the flagging off of the first import Containers, Shri. Rinkesh Roy, Chairman, V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust in his address stated that “Thecall of Mainline Container vessel is a red letter day in the history of Maritime trade in Tuticorin. Competitive Port tariff, improved infrastructure and customer friendly approach will make V.O.Chidambaranar Port more reliable and competitive”.
Shri N. Vaiyapuri, Deputy Chairman, V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust welcomed the gathering. Felicitation were also offered by Shri Verbeke Koen, Commercial Director, Bollore Ports, Shri Abby Yong, India Head, Wan Hai Lines, Shri J.P. Joe Villavarayar, Shri L. Anand Morais, President, Tuticorin Ship Agents Association. Shri Eric Lavenu, Chief Executive Officer,
Dakhshin Bharat Gateway Container Terminal, proposed the Vote of Thanks Shri Sandeep Nanduri, IAS, Collector, Thoothukudi District, Shri Murali Rambha, IPS, Superintendent of Police, Thoothukudi District, Trustees of the Port, heads of various Maritime fraternity, Port users, Officers and staff of the Port and Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminal graced the occasion.
