Chennai Port

Chennai Port, formerly known as Madras Port, is the second largest port of India, behind the Mumbai Port, and the largest port in the Bay of Bengal. Being the third oldest port among the 12 major ports of India, it is over 125 years old, although maritime trade started way back in 1639 on the sea shore. It is an artificial and all-weather port with wet docks. It was a major travel port before becoming a major container port. It is a substantial reason for the economic growth of Tamil Nadu, especially for the manufacturing boom in South India, and has contributed in no small measure to the development of the city. It is due of the existence of the port that the city of Chennai became known as the Gateway of South India. The port with 3 docks, 24 berths and draft ranging from 12 to 16.5 m (39 to 54.1 ft) has become a hub port for containers, cars and project cargo in the east coast of India. From handling a meagre volume of cargo in the early years, consisting chiefly of imports of oil and motors and the export of groundnuts, granite and ores, the port has moved towards handling 60 million tonnes of cargo in recent years. An ISO 14001:2004 and ISPS-certified port, its container traffic crossed 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for the first time in 2008. It is currently ranked the 86th largest container port in the world and is expanding in the coming years with the capacity going up to 140 million tonnes per annum. Chennai Port has been transformed into a main line port having direct connectivity to 50+ ports.

Read more about Chennai Port:  History, Location and Geography, Traffic Growth, Port Layout and Infrastructure, Operations, Natural Disasters, Lights and Lighthouses, The Future, Sister Ports

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