Tapping Vizhinjam’s potential

Tapping Vizhinjam’s potential

Vizhinjam can be developed as a mega container trans-shipment terminal, given its geographical location, natural deep water environment and comparatively much lower cost of approach channel maintenance.

Jose Paul

Recent reports suggest that the South Korean shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries is building the world’s largest container ship of 16,000 TEU with 20 per cent more capacity than the current largest container ships of 13,000 TEU. With a length of 400 metres, drawing a draught of 18 m when fully loaded, this behemoth is expected to begin regular service by 2011.
By that time, it is expected that about 200 giant container ships of 10,000 TEU capacity and above are likely to be in active service. These giant ships may draw a draught ranging from 15-18 m and they will be very selective in their port calls. Putting it in context
Concept designs for building even larger container ships are already on the drawing board and they may draw draught up to 20 metres. The attractiveness of Vizhinjam as a mega container trans-shipment terminal becomes relevant in this context. The current port development plans on the East and the West coasts of India do not seem to envisage a deep water port capable of permitting draught of 20 m or even more. Vizhinjam appears to be in a unique position in the extreme south-west coast of India, capable of providing such deep water within about just three km from the shore line.
Once a huge break water is constructed and one-time capital dredging is completed, in view of the relatively low littoral drift and natural deep water environment, the expenditure to be incurred on annual maintenance dredging to keep the access channel deep enough to permit ships drawing a draught of 20 m is reported to be comparatively insignificant.
The new container terminal that is coming up at Vallarpadam in Kochi is designed to permit container ships of 8,000 TEU drawing a draught of 14.5 m and in order to permit such vessels to enter the new terminal Cochin port will have to not only deepen but also widen the channel from 175 m to 280 m and lengthen it from 11 to 14 km.
On a rough estimate, the CPT will have to incur a maintenance dredging cost of at least about Rs 80 crore every year from the year 2010 when the new terminal becomes operational. The fact that Vizhinjam may be able to provide vessels drawing a draught of 20 m at less than one-fifth of the cost at Kochi is yet another attraction for Vizhinjam to emerge as a mega container trans-shipment terminal in the entire South Asian region.A strong case
One of the key requirements of any port to be developed as a container transshipment terminal is its geographical location. The most profitable route in international container shipping is the Asia- Europe route. All the present giant container ships, such as the Ebba Maersk, are deployed on this route and such ships generally load to full capacity in view of the booming trade with China. Since China and India are going to be the economic power houses to the world and the key manufacturing bases for America and the Europe, bigger and larger vessels are more likely to be deployed on this route.
Once these giant box ships leave the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Hong Kong the next port of call is Singapore and after Singapore there is no other Asian port where such super large container ships call at before they pass through the Suez Canal and reach the Mediterranean ports.
Vizhinjam, in close proximity of the international shipping route involving a diversion of just 20 nautical miles, could become a desirable stopover for such vessels before they proceed to transit the Suez. It is pertinent to bear in mind that the Government of Sri Lanka is putting its best efforts to take up construction of Colombo’s South Harbour project to make it the newest and the most competitive port in South Asia precisely to attract such giant container ships as an ideal transshipment base.
While Colombo’s South Harbour Project could possibly offer a draught of 18 m, Vizhinjam could still be ahead, offering deeper waters in a more competitive environment. International shipping companies will certainly factor in India’s fast growing economy and the consequent increase in trade volumes and also the fact that 80 per cent of all Colombo’s traffic is transshipped from Indian ports. The emergence of a mega port in Vizhinjam could result in such traffic not finding its way to Colombo but naturally to an Indian port.
Can a mega container transshipment terminal survive depending entirely on transshipment traffic?
While it would be desirable to have a local cargo base to ward off uncertainties in an environment of fluctuating traffic, there are ports that depend almost entirely on transshipment cargo. For the world’s 19th largest container port, namely Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia, which handles 5 million TEU annually, transshipment traffic accounts for 94 per cent of its total cargo traffic. Other advantages too
The long list of attractions of Vizhinjam does not seem to stop with its favourable geographical location, natural deep water environment and comparatively much lower cost of channel maintenance.
Vizhinjam, being a minor port, falls under the maritime jurisdiction of the State of Kerala and also falls outside the jurisdiction of the Tariff Authority for major ports.
The private investor will have freedom to fix his tariff based on the competitive market environment. Most of the land required could be reclaimed from the sea, necessitating much less rehabilitation and relocation of the inhabitants. It being a greenfield environment, the investor will not be burdened with the takeover of existing labour and the attendant problems associated with such takeover.
The new image emerging of Kerala as an investor-friendly Government should also come as a refreshing contrast to a State that had received a lot of negative publicity. Kerala, with 100 per cent literacy, endowed with skilled manpower, has a huge number of technically trained personnel who are working at ports of the UAE and Malaysia. They would be willing to return home to organise a highly productive and efficient operating team.
To cap it all, the qualified info-tech personnel of Kerala could provide an excellent IT back-up and innovative operating and support systems. When all the favourable factors are properly harnessed it should be possible for the proposed mega container transshipment terminal at Vizhinjam to offer a service quality that is unparalleled, an operational efficiency that is unmatched and a port performance that is unequalled in any port of the world.(The author, a former Chairman, Mormugao Port Trust, is a visiting professor, Manipal University, Karnataka. drjospaul@rediffmail.com)