Thiruvananthapuram: The official inaugural docking of the first vessel, Zhen Hua 15, which arrived at the Vizhinjam International Seaport, will take place on Sunday at 4 pm. The ceremony, which will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, will be attended by Union Minister for Ports Sarbananda Sonowal, Kerala Minister for Ports Ahammad Devarkovil, Adani Group CEO Kiran Adani among others.

The vessel which began its journey from China by the end of August was scheduled to dock at Vizhinjam on October 4, but its journey got delayed due to bad weather conditions along its route. The mammoth container handling super post panamax cranes and shore cranes onboard would be transferred to the port on Sunday. 

As many as eight super post panamax cranes and 32 shore cranes are required for the construction of the port.

The Vizhinjam port is being constructed under the public-private partnership model. Adani Group is the private partner in the development of Vizhinjam port, which is going to be one of the largest ports in the world once commissioned. The project, which was scheduled to be commissioned in 2019, got delayed due to several issues related to land acquisition.

Vizhinjam had witnessed violent protests as fishermen in the area opposed the project, alleging that the port could adversely affect their livelihood. There are also environmental concerns surrounding the construction and operation of the port. 

With PTI inputs