MSC likely to be anchor customer of Vizhinjam International Seaport

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : After the port of call of the first mother ship titled San Fernando, chartered by Maersk and operated by Bernhard Schulte Ship management , Singapore. (BSM), at the Vizhinjam International Seaport on July 11 as part of starting limited scale operations, the third mother ship, owned by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), called at the port on Wednesday. ‘MSC Orion’, the container ship built in 2020 and currently sailing under the flag of Madeira, has reached here with around 15,000 TEU containers. A TEU is the standard size of a container.

This is also the third mothership owned by the MSC that called at the port after the successful berthing of MSC Deila and MSC Adu V. With this, the chances are high for the MSC to make Vizhinjam one of their hubs. Getting shipping majors as anchor customers will enhance the prospects of the newly commissioned ports. Vizhinjam International Seaport is scheduled to begin the full-fledged commercial operations by December 2024.

If the shipping line agrees to make Vizhinjam as one of the hubs, the first phase target of meeting of one million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) container handling will not be a big deal for the port, which is designed to reduce the transshipping dependence of the country on Colombo port.

It is also learnt that MSC is also analysing the operations of the port, which is equally important for the port developer as well as shipping lines. A potential agreement in this regard between shipping lines and port authorities can be reached before the commissioning of the port, said sources. Meanwhile, the MSC Orion, which sailed into the port from Brazil, will undertake around 3,000 container movements here before moving to another destination. MSC Adu V also left for Cochin Port after discharging around 2,000 containers here and loading back around 1,000 containers from here.