Tuticorin International Container Terminal to begin operations

Tuticorin’s New Container Terminal Opens for Business on 16th September

South India is about to welcome a new private container terminal—Tuticorin International Container Terminal Pvt Ltd—which is part of J M Baxi Ports & Logistics Ltd. This terminal will start its operations on 16th September with the arrival of a ship called ‘Rio Grande Express’. This ship is flagged under Hong Kong and is operated by the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd.

The Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, will officially start the terminal’s operations. Several other important people, like Shantanu Thakur, Minister of State for Ports, T K Ramachandran, Secretary of the Ports Ministry, and E V Velu, Tamil Nadu’s Public Works Minister, will also attend the event.

Eco-Friendly Port Operations

J M Baxi Ports & Logistics is committed to protecting the environment. They are launching a green initiative at the Tuticorin terminal, making it more eco-friendly by using all-electric cranes and reach stackers. This is a step toward running the terminal in a cleaner and more sustainable way.

The terminal will use three Rail Mounted Quay Cranes (RMQCs), which can lift up to 65 tons and cover a distance of 58 meters. Additionally, there will be nine electric Rubber Tyred Gantry Cranes (eRTGs) and an electric Reach Stacker. These machines are designed to handle large cargo efficiently while reducing pollution.

About the Rio Grande Express

The Rio Grande Express is a container ship built in 2006. It can carry 4,248 containers (TEUs). The ship is part of a weekly service called the South East India-Europe Express (IEX). This service connects ports in South India—such as Visakhapatnam, Kattupalli, and Cochin—to several European ports, including Rotterdam, London Gateway Port, and Hamburg. The service is operated by shipping companies COSCO, ONE, and YANG MING, along with Hapag-Lloyd.

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New Terminal’s Impact

This new container terminal was created by turning Berth No. 9 of the V O Chidambaranar Port into a space for handling containers. The total cost for this conversion was Rs 434.17 crore. It is part of the Indian government’s push for privatisation.

The new terminal will increase the port’s capacity to handle more containers, adding 6 lakh TEUs per year, bringing the total to 1.8 million TEUs annually. This is a significant boost for the port’s operations, which are currently handled by two other container terminals: PSA SICAL Terminals Ltd and Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminal Pvt Ltd.

Key Milestone for Tuticorin

Tuticorin International Container Terminal won the contract for this project by bidding Rs 1,900.44 per TEU. The two current container terminals at V O Chidambaranar Port handled 3,36,000 containers between April and August 2024, up from 3,15,000 containers during the same period last year.

This new facility will further increase the port’s ability to handle containers and will contribute to the overall growth of South India’s trade.