Kerala welcomes world’s largest container ship: How Vizhinjam International Seaport is turning out to be a gamechanger for Adani Ports

Vizhinjam International Seaport on June 9 welcomed MSC Irina, the world’s largest container ship with a capacity of 24,346 TEUs, in its maiden voyage to Indian waters. The MSC Irina is massive—it is 399.9 metres long, almost 4 times the length of a FIFA-spec football ground. And this is just one of the significant achievements of the South Indian port.

When the first phase operations of India’s first automated port kicked off on December 3, 2024, it began with a 2,960-metre breakwater, 800-metre berth, eight quay cranes, and 24 yard cranes. And now, the Vizhinjam International Seaport in Thiruvananthapuram is set to bring major gains to its operator, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ).

The market-listed maritime arm of the Adani conglomerate helmed by India’s second richest man, Gautam Adani, recently lifted its fiscal 2025-2026 cargo volume guidance to 50-515 million metric tons (MMT) and its revenue outlook to ₹36,000-38,000 crore. It also now sees its fiscal EBITDA at ₹21,000-22,000 crore. And one of the key drivers is the new seaport in Kerala.

“We are on track to maintain our guidance, driven by the full-year volume impact of Vizhinjam Port and the newly operational Colombo Port,” Adani Ports noted in its FY2025 annual report.

Adani Ports handled a staggering 450MMT in cargo volume in fiscal 2025, up 7 per cent year-on-year, making it the country’s leading port operator. Out of this, Gujarat’s Mudra Port alone handles more than 200MMT—the first ever Indian port to hit the milestone.

Vizhinjam Port’s increasing operational strength is expected to lift Adan Port’s capabilities much higher than this, given that it already handled 7.3MMT cargo from its commencement in December 2024 to the end of March 2025. India’s first fully automated transhipment port also crossed the milestone of handling more than 1 lakh TEUs in a single month.

The “state-of-the-art mega transhipment hub” at Vizhinjam, just 16 kilometres from the centre of the capital city of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, is located 10 nautical miles from major international maritime trade routes. 

On June 7, 2025, the Indian Coast Guard inaugurated a dedicated ICG jetty right next to the Vizhinjam Port. This also reiterates how important the Centre considers the port.

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And that’s not all; Vizhinjam International Seaport indigenously developed its very own Smart & Intelligent Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) in collaboration with a third-party firm.

“This advanced system efficiently manages vessel traffic in ports, harbours, and coastal areas, enhancing maritime safety through dynamic information sharing and real-time data fusion from multiple sensors,” according to Adani Ports.

From collecting data through sensors to processing it automatically and recording it for future analysis, this ‘in-house’ VTMS is expected to be beneficial with traffic coordination, with an open interface for information exchange between VTS and other services.

Moreover, it also features an AI-enabled decision support system for hazard detection.

“The success of the VTMS at Vizhinjam will set a benchmark for similar enhancements in other ports, promoting a new era of operational efficiency and technological resilience across the country’s coastal facilities,” Adani Ports noted.

Vizhinjam port, which is also strategically located close to the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport—also operated by an Adani Group unit—features many automation technologies. They include eight semi-automated and remotely-operated rail-mounted quay cranes (RMQCs), 24 fully automated cantilever rail-mounted gantry cranes (CRMGs) in the yard (operators required only for managing exceptions), quayside processes, including capturing containers and internal transfer vehicle details, automated with optical character recognition (OCR) powered cameras, andITVs equipped with real-time location systems (RTLS), machine learning technology (MLT), and passive RFID systems.

Even the terminal gates are automated with AI-powered OCRs and passive RFIDs.

The MSC Irina is expected to be berthed till Tuesday at the Vizhinjam Port, according to Adani Ports.

Maritime