"Tuticorin International Container Terminal: South India’s Latest Private Port Facility"

South India’s newest private container handling facility, Tuticorin International Container Terminal Pvt Ltd, a unit of J M Baxi Ports & Logistics Ltd, will commence operations on September 16. The inaugural event will feature the berthing of the Hong Kong-flagged vessel 'Rio Grande Express,' operated by German container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd.

The ship will be officially launched by Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, with the event also attended by Shantanu Thakur, Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways; T K Ramachandran, Secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; and E V Velu, Minister for Public Works, Government of Tamil Nadu.

J M Baxi Ports & Logistics has introduced a comprehensive green initiative at the new terminal, including all-electric cranes and reach stackers to promote sustainable and eco-friendly port operations.

The terminal features three Rail Mounted Quay Cranes (RMQCs) with a twin-lifting capacity of 65 tons and an outreach of 58 meters, nine electric Rubber Tyred Gantry Cranes (eRTGs), and an electric Reach Stacker (e-Reach Stacker).

The 'Rio Grande Express,' a 2006-built vessel with a capacity of 4,248 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), operates on the South East India – Europe Express (IEX) service, a fixed weekly route run jointly by COSCO, ONE, and YANG MING, with four ships provided by Hapag-Lloyd.

The IEX service connects South Indian ports, including Visakhapatnam, Kattupalli, and Cochin, with international destinations such as Colombo, Damietta, Piraeus, Rotterdam, London Gateway, Hamburg, Antwerp, and Le Havre.

Hapag-Lloyd AG holds a 40% stake in J M Baxi Ports & Logistics Ltd. Shipping industry sources indicate that the 'Rio Grande Express' is making a special call to mark the terminal's opening, with no current plans for regular service at the facility.

Built by converting Berth No 9 at the State-owned V O Chidambaranar Port into a container terminal, Tuticorin International Container Terminal represents a ₹434.17 crore investment under the government’s privatization program. The terminal will increase V O Chidambaranar Port’s container handling capacity by 600,000 TEUs annually, bringing the total capacity to 1.8 million TEUs per year.

Tuticorin International Container Terminal won the project with the highest royalty price bid of ₹1,900.44 per TEU. Currently, V O Chidambaranar Port has two existing container terminals operated by PSA SICAL Terminals Ltd and Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminal Pvt Ltd, with a combined handling capacity of 1.2 million TEUs. Between April and August 2024, these terminals managed a total of 336,000 TEUs, up from 315,000 TEUs the previous year.

ET