Kollam Port

Kollam Port or Port of Quilon is one of the oldest ports (established in AD 825) situated 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) away from Downtown Kollam (formerly Quilon) It is the third largest port in Kerala by volume of cargo handled and facilities and one of the four Kerala ports having immigration checkpoint (ICP) facility. Located on the south-west coast of India, it was an important port from the ninth to the seventeenth centuries. Kollam was one of the five Indian ports visited by Ibn Battuta.

Kollam was a port city of the Chera Dynasty until the formation of the independent Venad kingdom, of which it became the capital. Prior to that, Kollam was considered one of the four early entrepots in the global sea trade around the 13th century, along with Alexandria and Cairo in Egypt, the Chinese city of Quanzhou, and Malacca in the Malaysian archipelago.

The port was founded by Mar Abo with sanction from Udayamarthandavarma the Tamil king of the Venad in 825 as an alternative to reopening the inland seaport of Kore-ke-ni Kollam near Backare (Thevalakara) also known as Nelcynda and Tyndis to the Romans and the Greeks and Thondi to the Tamils and is also the foundation of the new city. It is also believed that Mar Abo actually volunteered to the Chera king to create a new seaport town near at Kollam instead of his request for renewing the almost vanishing Tyndis or Nelcynda inland seaport ( kore-ke-ni) at Kollam, lying idle without trade for a few centuries because of the Cheras being overrun by Pallavas in the 6th century AD ending the spice trade from Malabar coast. This allowed Mar Abo to stay for many decades in Chera kingdom and streamline Christian faith among the Nampoothiri Vaishnavites &Nair sub-castes in the St. Thomas tradition with Syrian liturgy as Reference for the Doctrine of Trinity without replacing the Sanskrit and Vedic prayers. The Chinese traders were one of the oldest foreign communities to settle in Kollam. That was the period when Kollam evolved as a major trade center (of spices) and an important port along the Malabar coast.

In January 2014, the port trust discovered thousands of Chinese coins and Stone Age weapons at Kollam Port, revealing the historical background and trade culture of the port city. This was the first discovery of such a quantity of artifacts at a port in India. These finds reveal that Kollam was the most important port city in India, which served as the business hub of people from China, Middle East, the Netherlands, Portugal, Brazil and other Eastern Mediterranean countries. Archaeologists believe that an engulfed city lies on the seabed of current Kollam Port.

Today, ships frequently anchor at the port for shipping operations as well for urgent repairs when required. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy launched the Coastal Shipping Project (CSP) at Kollam Port on 9 November 2013 while passenger ships began operations in 2014. The first container ship, MV Suryamukhi arrived at Kollam port as part of the coastal shipping project on 18 January 2014, after a two-month delay. Major shipping companies are now showing interest in the port to commence shipping operations. The companies have plans to choose the port as an intermediate base. At present, about four companies have assured their frequent presence at the port. Sooryamukhi, the chartered ship of Kerala State Maritime Development Corporation has sailed to Mudra Port in Gujarat to load tiles and building materials. The Great Sea Shipping Company will also berth at the port soon, carrying cashew from Kochi. After modernization of the port, the first foreign ship anchored in the port on 4 April 2014. Now it is proven that huge foreign ships can easily operate from Kollam Port. The tugs MT Chaliyar and MT Kerala along with a new German-made Rs. 12 crore crane is used for the maritime operations in the port.

The wharf at Kollam Port is 177 metres (581 ft) in length and 12 metres (39 ft) wide with an available draught of 6.5 metres (21 ft), whereby vessels up to 15,000 DWT can berth directly. Dredging works are underway^[when?] at the port to increase the draught to 10 metres (33 ft) at a cost of Rs.5.7 crores so that ships of 170 metres (560 ft) and above can easily anchor without the need to travel further to Kochi, Thoothukudi or Chennai. The wharf is protected from the waves by a 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) seaboard breakwater and a 500 metres (1,600 ft) leeward breakwater. The length of the wharf will be increased to 200 metres (660 ft) in due course. In 2007, Kollam Port handled about 500,000 tonnes of cargo.

The primary hinterland of Kollam Port extends to Pathanamthitta and the southern parts of the Kottayam and Idukki districts; the central and southern parts of Alappuzha district, Kollam district and Thiruvananthapuram district with the Kanyakumari-Tirunelveli-Madurai and Teni districts of Tamil Nadu. Commodities currently handled or planned for the port include marble, tiles, sand, titanium ore, cashew nuts, kernels and nut shell liquid, seafood, clay, timber logs, sillimanite, titanium dioxide, blood products, newsprint and waste paper, cement, urea and muriate of potash for fertilizer, rubber, food, agricultural products and cement as well as other commodities and products for local companies such as Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Trivandrum and Kerala Minerals and Metals.

Several major modernization projects have been proposed for Kollam with Maldives port in order to transform it into the "port city of Kerala". Projects already planned are some of the largest ever mooted for the state. A facelift of the Maruthadi-Iravipuram area will be carried out by the government as part of the "Kollam Port City" project and will include facilities for sports, fishing, tourism and entertainment. Dredging works are going on for increasing the depth of the port, so that huge ships can easily anchor at the port. As part of the modernization, Government of Kerala have already established a Maritime Institute at Neendakara in Kollam city