Chennai Port

Chennai Port
Chennai Port in 1996
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Location
Country	India
Location	Chennai (Madras)
Coordinates	13°05′04″N 80°17′24″E / 13.08441°N 80.2899°E / 13.08441; 80.2899
UN/LOCODE	IN MAA
Details
Opened	1881; 143 years ago (1881)
Operated by	Chennai Port Trust
Owned by	Chennai Port Trust, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India
Type of harbour	Coastal breakwater, artificial, large seaport
Size of harbour	169.97 ha (420.0 acres)
Land area	237.54 ha (587.0 acres)
Size	407.51 ha (1,007.0 acres)
No. of berths	26
Employees	8,000 (2004)[1]
Chairman	Shri Sunil Paliwal, I.A.S.
Main trades	Automobiles, motorcycles and general industrial cargo including iron ore, granite, coal, fertilizers, petroleum products, and containers Major exports: Iron ore, leather, cotton textiles,Automobiles Major imports: Wheat, raw cotton, machinery, iron & steel
World Port Index Number	49450[2]
UN/LOCODE	INMAA
Statistics
Annual cargo tonnage	51.88 million tonnes (2017–18)[3]
Annual container volume	1.55 million TEUs (2014–2015)[4]
Annual revenue	₹ 890.4 crore (2007–08)[5]
Vessels handled	2,181 (2010–2011)
Capacity	Cargoes: 55.75 million tonnes (2008–09)[6] Containers: 2 million TEUs[7]
Website www.chennaiport.gov.in

Chennai Port, formerly known as Madras Port, is the second largest container port of India, behind Mumbai's Jawaharlal Nehru Port also known as Nhava Sheva. The port is the largest one in the Bay of Bengal. It is the third-oldest port among the 12 major ports of India with official port operations beginning in 1881, although maritime trade started much earlier in 1639 on the undeveloped shore. It is an artificial and all-weather port with wet docks. Once a major travel port, it became a major container port in the post-Independence era. An established port of trade of British India since the 1600s, the port remains a primary reason for the economic growth of Tamil Nadu, especially for the manufacturing boom in South India, and has contributed greatly to the development of the city of Chennai.^[8] It is due to the existence of the port that the city of Chennai eventually became known as the Gateway of South India.

The port 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 of its existence, consisting chiefly of imports of oil and motors and the export of groundnuts, granite and ores, the port has started handling more than 60 million tonnes of cargo in recent years. In 2008, the port's container traffic crossed 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). As of 2011, the Chennai Port was ranked the 86th largest container port in the world with plans to expand the capacity to about 140 million tonnes per annum.^[9][10] It is an ISO 14001:2004 and ISPS-certified port and has become a main line port having direct connectivity to more than 50 ports around the world.