Visakhapatnam: In a shot in the arm to its efforts to become a world-class transhipment hub, Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) has bagged the 19th rank in the Container Port Performance Index (CPPI)-2023, developed by the World Bank and the S&S Global Market Intelligence.

The index is a comparable assessment performance based on vessel time in port, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), said in a post on micro-blogging site X. The post said Visakhapatnam Port reached the top 20 rankings in the world CPPI-2023.

Visakhapatnam Port which has Visakha Container Terminal Private Ltd (VCTPL), a greenfield container terminal developed under BOT basis has been ranked higher than Mundra Port. Mundra Port owned by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) is ranked 27th. VCTPL, a wholly-owned prestigious project of JM Baxi Ports & Logistics, developed and operates a 1.35 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEWs) terminal as part of VPA’s efforts to emerge as a transhipment hub.

“With its impressive performance we are confident of making Visakhapatnam Port a gateway for exports and import to South East Asia,” VPA Chairman Dr M Angamuthu, told Bizz Buzz on Thursday.

The port which handled little over 80 million tonnes of cargo during 2023-24 has set a target to enhance it to 90 million tonnes during the current financial year.

VCTPL is located at the centre of India’s East Coast and close to Malacca Straits. It is emerging as an ideal gateway for container traffic from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal taking advantage of its strategic location. It is blessed with 16.5 metres alongside (considered deepest in the country).

It is turning into a transhipment hub with containers from Kolkata, Haldia, Paradip, Kakinada, Chittagong and Yangon. It has been recording a steady year on year growth since inception with a CAGR of 19 per cent.

The report stated “the top-ranked container ports in the CPPI are Yangshan Port (China) in first place, followed by the Port of Salalah (Oman) in second place, retaining their ranking from the CPPI 2022. Third place in the CPPI is occupied by the port of Cartagena, up from fifth place in the CPPI 2022, whilst Tangier-Mediterranean retains its fourth ranking.”

According to the report, Tanjung Pelepas improved one position to fifth, Ningbo moved up from twelfth in 2022 to seventh in 2023, and Port Said moved from sixteenth to tenth in 2023. Yokohama fell from tenth and twelfth in CPPI 2021 to fifteenth place in CPPI 2022 is now back to ninth in 2023. Ports moving in the other direction in the top ten: Khalifa port falls from third position in 2022 to twenty-ninth position in CPPI 2023. Hamad Port, which fell from eighth in 2022 to eleventh in 2023. There are 55 new entrants to the CPPI 2023, and several significant gainers in terms of ranking.