Around a year after the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) stopped the outer anchorage crew change at Vizhinjam seaport, the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) that functions under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has accorded the ISPS Code (International Code for the Security of Ships and Port Facilities) for the port.
With the port getting the certification, the passenger and merchant vessels of international shipping lines, which have been giving a miss to the Vizhinjam port since last July, can now call at the port.
The authorities can also resume the crew change service, which was last held here on July 20, 2022. The ISPS Code certification ensures that adequate and proportionate maritime security measures are in place on board ships and ports. It also defines the respective roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders concerned with providing maritime security in ports and on board ships, at the national, regional, and international levels.
The order issued by the MMD certified the compliance of Vizhinjam port facility with the provisions of Chapter XI-2 and Part A of the ISPS Code, and it verified that the port facility operates in accordance with the approved port facility security plan. Different types of vessels like passenger ships, passenger high-speed craft, cargo high-speed craft, bulk carriers, other cargo ships, oil tankers, chemical tankers, gas tankers, gas carriers, and mobile offshore drilling units, can now dock at the port.
The outer anchorage crew change was allowed at Vizhinjam during the time of COVID-19 considering the restrictions imposed by various countries on seafarers. The port then generated a revenue of ₹10 crore by facilitating 735 crew exchanges here. However, soon after the pandemic restrictions were eased by the government, the authorities have withdrawn the permission. The crew change at Vizhinjam was a big advantage for the maritime sector because of its proximity to international shipping channels.
The MMD has recently announced the compliance of Kollam Port with the provisions of the ISPS. The under-construction ₹7,700-crore Vizhinjam International Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport is yet to get the ISPS code, as it could not complete the fencing around the port facility, although it met other security parameters. The delay in handing over a land property near the port to the port developer has been delaying the certification.
