Visakhapatnam Port Authority has published detailed FY 2025-26 trade data confirming a robust and broad-based improvement in port performance. Exports grew 19.4 per cent year-on-year to 33.67 million tonnes — a particularly impressive figure that reflects the port’s success in attracting higher volumes of steel, engineering goods, chemicals, and bulk commodities from its southeastern Indian industrial hinterland. Imports increased 5.5 per cent to 57.45 million tonnes, driven by coal, crude oil, fertilisers, and iron ore, taking total throughput to 90.3 million tonnes — the highest in the port’s history and a 10.34 per cent improvement over FY25.
VPA Chairperson M. Angamuthu attributed the growth to broad-based improvements across bulk, break-bulk, and liquid cargo segments, reflecting enhanced operational efficiency and the port’s ability to cater to evolving trade dynamics. The export growth rate of 19.4 per cent significantly outpaces the import growth rate of 5.5 per cent — a pattern that reflects the broader shift in India’s trade posture toward higher manufactured goods export volumes as PLI-scheme-driven manufacturing expansion takes hold in the country’s industrial corridors, many of which route through Vizag for eastern and southeastern seaboard exports.
India’s Largest Backhoe Dredger River Pearl 47 Commissioned at JNPA
Knowledge Marine and Engineering Works Limited has commissioned River Pearl 47 — described as the largest and deepest Indian-flag, self-propelled backhoe dredger in the country — at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, under a three-month contract awarded by Dredging Corporation of India. The vessel, inducted into KMEW’s fleet of 45 specialised vessels, adds critical deepwater dredging capability to India’s domestic maritime infrastructure maintenance sector. With three Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers, nine Cutter Suction Dredgers, and now two backhoe dredgers, KMEW is building a diversified dredging fleet that can handle the full range of port maintenance, deepening, and construction requirements that India’s ambitious port expansion pipeline will generate over the next decade.
Hambantota Boosts RoRo and Container Capacity Amid Shifting Trade Routes
Hambantota International Port in Sri Lanka is simultaneously ramping up its RoRo and container handling capacity as shifting global trade routes driven by the Hormuz crisis create new cargo flow opportunities for Indian Ocean transshipment hubs. The port has initiated infrastructure enhancements including expanded yard space, upgraded cargo handling equipment, and improved terminal operations to accommodate rising volumes of vehicle shipments and containerised freight. HIP’s RoRo capacity expansion specifically targets the growing automotive transshipment market between Asia, the Middle East, and Africa — a segment that has seen routing disruption since Gulf ports handling outbound vehicle flows from India and South Asia became partially inaccessible. For Vizag’s own vehicle export operations — India’s second-largest vehicle export gateway — the Hambantota RoRo expansion provides an additional transhipment option that can help maintain automotive export logistics continuity during the current Gulf disruption.
