Legendary light house

At around ten o clock in the morning , i got a wake up call  ( my third mate).. !!!  " Second .. !! , we are abeam your home twn  , i see a lot of fishing boats around , n visually sited your " Legendary light house "   he..he...!!!  , come up asap ..."
        He called it "Legendary light house"  because  ,  when on midnight watch last night , we disscused a lot about my friends  over a cup of steaming hot coffee , and he himself named it  "Legendary" , after hearing those legendary stories . We discussed  about the times when me , aravind , kunju ,rohit , chinku  , thomas , vishnu , rahul and all were atop the tower to share the bitching and ditching stories . The varying emotions of bliss, laugh , cry  and anger in the stories might have provoked him to name the light house like that .

       After freshning up ,  I went up to have a look at the " Legendary Light house "  , which  , " one day " will guide the world's most  biggest , tallest  and heaviest ships to the one of the  world's most biggest  and beautiful natural  deepwater port  - The Port of Vizhinjam.  

  I  felt the helplessness of an ordinary indian citizen  there , I  made  a heroic effort to control  the curses that wanted to leap out of my mouth...!!  You know why  ...???  Bcoz , I clearly know that , the " ONE DAY "  i was talking about  will never come.
       
          Below are a few facts about the The Port of Vizhinjam , compiled from different  websites, newspapers , journals ,  articles , forums  , discussions  etc



Vizhinjam is on the outskirts of Trivandrum, 16 km away from the city centre and 1 km away from the city Limits, but located within the Trivandrum  city area. Vizhinjam is a natural port, which is located close to the international ship route. So it is expected that at least 50% of the nearly 20,000 ships that pass through the Suez canal (per annum) will anchor at Trivandrum. It is expected that with the functioning of Vizhinjam port in its full swing, the ports of Colombo, Singapore and Dubai might face serious competitor from India. This will boost the trade and commercial activities not only in Kerala but also to entire India. It is estimated that the cargo movements to southern, northern and western regions may find it more cost-effective to use Vizhinjam as a gateway/trans-shipment terminal instead of ports in Colombo, Singapore, Salalah, etc.

The port is supposed to be 150 metres in width. About 2.5 to 2.75 km² (600 to 700 acres (2.8 km2)) would be made available through reclamation of the sea. The port would have two breakwaters of 1.5 km and 6 km with harbour basin and wharfs. There would be about 30 berths, most of which would be capable of handling Mother Vessels. There was high potential for a new port as India needs additional capacity in the coming years. Thus Vizhinjam port has very high importance from this point of view.

Advantages of Vizhinjam port

 Vizhinjam port is located 16 km south of Kerala’s capital, Thiruvananthapuram on the West coast of India.


The site offers the following unique advantages:

* The international sea route connecting Persian Gulf & Far East passes very close to Vizhinjam, therefore minimum deviation for the main route liners, which no other ports can claim.

 *  The site offers a natural water depth of more than  25m within nautical mile off the coast, thus capable of taking any future mega container carriers that require large water depths. The other places which have established International  Terminal have only 14 meters of depth that too after daily dredging entailing prohibitive recurring expenditure


* Immediacy to national/regional road, rail network 

*Proximity to another international port (Cochin)that would make a twin international harbours (first in the world). 

*The commercial, Technological and Political importance of Trivandrum, the fastest growing IT hub in India. 


*Accessibility to Trivandrum International Airport that holds the largest cargo unit in the South. 


*The moderate climate of Trivandrum suitable for Western operators. 


*The tourist climate and accessibility to international beaches like Kovalam and Shangumugham. 


*The growth prospect of the Trivandrum which is potentially considered the next Metro. 


*Availability of Educated, English speaking public in and around the City.


* The tidal drift is minimum at Vizhinjam making it an excellent location for 
an all weather port.


*  Vizhinjam is one of the few places, which can offer 24 hour copious water 
supply both treated and untreated.. Kerala’s second fresh water lake‘Vellayani’ is very near to the proposed site. 

*  The soil condition at Vizhinjam even at the coast is so hard so as to bear any heavy structures and load, making it ideal for harbor construction. 

* Availability of 20 m contour within a nautical mile off the coast. Minimal littoral drift along the coast and therefore hardly any maintenance dredging




Wave Energy

 Vizhinjam fishing harbour is the site of a unique demonstrations plant that converts sea wave energy to elecricity and is given to the local grid.This plant is based on the oscillating water column (OWC) principle. A caisson was constructed in December 1990 at Vizhinjam and two generations of power modules have been tested as of today. The plant was first commissioned in October 1991. The physical processes in the energy conversion are understood to a much greater extent, leading to a threefold increase in absolute power from the plant.

The Vizhinjam port project is set to become the biggest transhipment container terminal in the country, expanding its berthing capacity for vessels up to 18,020 TEU (twenty foot equivalent container units). 


This would mean the port, once it becomes operational, will be able to handle berth requirements of some of the world's largest vessels, giving it an edge over ports like Colombo and Dubai.

The other proposals include an exclusive 250 meter-long oil bunking   (fueling) facility, where long haul vessels travelling along the east-west sea route can refuel, and an 850-meter modern fishing harbour twice the size of the existing one.

A few news headlines that  always made me struggle to conceal a smile .....

April 24, 1999 :

India: MoU for Vizhinjam port development likely in May

July 2002 :

Vizhinjam feasibility study under way

March 2004 :

Vallarpadam, Vizhinjam ports in race to woo investors

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It's A race unlike any other, with two port projects which are barely 300-km apart trying to woo investors for container transhipment terminals.

The general industry perception is that there is no scope for two international container transhipment terminals in Kerala, but the Vallarpadam project in Kochi and the Vizhinjam project near here are being pushed side by side.

Trivandrum, 26- Feb-2007

"Minister " so and so "  said  that the proposed international deepwater container terminal at Vizhinjam would become a reality this year."

Trivandrum, 07-Sept-2007

Vizhinjam  terminal in 3 years: Minister " so and  so"

 Work on the first phase of the Vizhinjam international container transhipment terminal will be completed in three years ,  Minister ****   has said.

25 Oct 2010 :

Vizhinjam to be a Landlord Port!

Trivandrum, 12-Sept-2012

"We are satisfied with the responses we have got, and will consider these proposals after inviting global tenders to construct the super structure of the port,'' a senior port official said.

March 19, 2013 : 

Vizhinjam port work likely to start by year-end

A few links that helped me complete this blog .. !!! 

http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/22/stories/2007042218920500.htm

http://forums.vizhinjamport.org/viewtopic.php?p=72#72 

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-54490269/india-mou-vizhinjam-port.html

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2004-03-06/news/27377872_1_vizhinjam-project-port-projects-international-container-terminal-services

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/vizhinjam-port-work-likely-to-start-by-yearend/article4525186.ece