♦ Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally inaugurated India’s first deepwater transshipment port, named Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, on 2 May 2025.

♦ The port was built by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) in partnership with the government under a public-private model at a cost of around Rs.8,900 crore.

♦ A transshipment port includes terminals, where cargo containers are shifted from one vessel to another before they reach their final destination.

♦ Until now, India lacked a full-fledged deepwater container transshipment port. With no infrastructure to handle large vessels, nearly 75 per cent of its transshipment cargo has been routed through foreign ports such as Colombo, Singapore, and Jebel Ali in the UAE.