After several delays and false starts, construction work at one of India’s first international container trans-shipment hub and deepwater port, set to come up at Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram, is finally expected to commence by early 2009. The $1.3-billion project, slated to come up on the public private partnership route, has already witnessed interest from over 30 domestic and international port players, even as more companies are expected to jump into the fray over the next month.

''The deadline for receiving bids for the Vizhinjam port project has been extended by another 45 days to December 15, and already we have received interest from over 30 players,'' said L Radhakrishnan, secretary to government (ports), chief executive officer and director of Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd- the nodal agency executing the project. ''The bids will be evaluated by the year-end, and another year will be required to achieve technical and financial closure, after which the project work can begin.''

The players that have purchased bid documents for the project include foreign giants like Maersk and the Singapore Port Authority, while domestic heavyweights like Reliance and Larsen and Toubro (L&T) among others, are learnt to have evinced interest as well. This is the second time that bids have been called for the project. Last year, merely two bids were received and the Chinese consortium granted the tender by the state government was rejected by the Centre for want of adequate security clearance, making the project a non-starter.

With the bid process seemingly on track and no further delays expected, Radhakrishnan said the Vizhinjam port is likely to commence operations commercially by 2012. ''The project is on track and we expect the first phase to be completed in 26 months, '' he said.

The port, with a concession period of 30 years, will see three phases of development. In the first phase, Vizhinjam would be able to accommodate ships of 8,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), while subsequently, by 2012, it would be able to dock giant vessels as big as 12,000 TEUs, with a total capacity to handle 5.3 mn TEUs of cargo every year.

The port's significance attaches from the fact that it would have a natural depth (draft) of about 20 metres, while being conveniently located at a distance of just 10 nautical miles from international shipping routes.

'The trend in international shipping is the use of supertankers and huge container ships. Currently, more than 40 VLCS (very large container ships over 7500 TEUs) are already in service and 160 are being constructed,'' said Radhakrishnan. ''The 11,000 TEU ‘‘Evelyn Maersk '' vessel is already in operation globally and vessels as big as 18,000 TEUs will be commissioned into the global shipping fleet. This port should be able to cater to such large super vessels.''