The Port with Enviable Past
Tuticorin was a famous transshipment centre in maritime Trade linking China in the East, Greece and Rome in the west. The proverbial wealth of Tamilnadu and emergence of Thoothukudi as a maritime Port lured the traders, travelers, adventurers and eventually the colonizers.
From the old minor port of Tuticorin, small ships were plying to Chennai, Colombo and other Maritime centres in the 15th Century. The Portuguese sailed into Tuticorin in 1532, and the Dutch in 1649. The English East India Company took over the administration of Tuticorin in June 1825. The light-house built in 1842 replacing the Dutch Obelisk marked the beginning of the history of Tuticorin Harbour Development. It was in the year 1866 that the first primitive wooden jetty of 30 metres length was erected at a cost of Rs.1200; in 1895 a proper pier was constructed and four years later the main line of the Southern Railway was extended to the quay.
The proposal to construct a Deep-sea Port at Tuticorin was first thought of in the year 1914 and the initial proposal was prepared by Mr. Bristow. The Wolfe Barrs Scheme, the Bristow Scheme, Palmer Scheme and the Chatterjee Scheme were all shelved in 1930,1949, 1950 and 1954 respectively due to lack of funds.
In 1958, the strides made by the Business interests of Tuticorin to meet the then Prime Minister of India, Late Jawaharlal Nehru signaled the conception of a Port at Tuticorin. The Intermediate Ports Development Committee, Government of India, recommended the establishment of a Major Port at Tuticorin with alongside berths and modern handling facilities during the year 1960. The recommendation of the Committee was accepted by the Government of India and an allotment of Rs.5 crores was made in the Third Five-Year Plan. The Government of India accorded expenditure sanction for Rs.21.76 crores during July 1969 for the construction of 4 alongside berths. The Conception, Planning, evolution of layout, designs of Marine Structures and execution were done completely by Indian Engineers without any consultancy from abroad.
The Tuticorin Port was declared the 10th Major Port of India with the commissioning of the temporary oil mooring berth at north breakwater on the 11th July, 1974. The first two alongside berths were inaugurated by Shri H.M. Trivedi, the then Union Minister of State for Shipping and Transport, on the 2nd December, 1975, and the remaining two berths were commissioned in December 1976.
The Minor Port at Tuticorin which was under the State Government and the Tuticorin New Port which was under the Government of India, were merged under the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963, with effect from the Ist of April, 1979. As a mark of paying tribute to the legendary freedom fighter V.O. Chidambaranar Port who plied the first swadeshi Ship from Tuticorin to Colombo during the 1907, Tuticorin Port Trust was renamed as V.O. Chidambaranar Port on 19.02.2011.
Consequent to the repeal of the Major Port Trust Act, 1963, V.O.Chidambaranar Port Trust was renamed as V.O.Chidambaranar Port Authority, w.e.f. 03.11.2021
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