DP World Cochin Sets New Record with 8,000 TEU MSC Ilaria Call

DP World Cochin has set a new single-vessel call record at its terminal, handling over 8,000 TEUs — including import, export, and transshipment cargo — during the call of MSC Ilaria, one of the largest container vessels ever to berth at the port. The previous record had been set by the call of MSC Aurora at over 6,000 TEUs, making the Ilaria call a 30-plus per cent improvement in single-call productivity.

MSC Ilaria is a formidable vessel by any measure: 366 metres in length, 51 metres beam, 171,079 tonnes deadweight, a maximum draft of 17 metres, and a nominal capacity of 16,616 TEUs — firmly in the Ultra Large Container Vessel category. The vessel’s successful handling at DP World Cochin demonstrates that the terminal has the infrastructure, equipment, and operational capacity to service mainline ULCVs — a critical capability for competing with Colombo and Singapore for transhipment business on MSC’s network, which has been driving volumes at Vizhinjam and is now also testing capacity at Cochin.

Cochin’s Growing ULCV Capability in the Transhipment Race

The MSC Ilaria record is particularly significant in the context of the Vizhinjam-Cochin competitive dynamic. Vizhinjam, which handled 1.296 million TEUs in its first full year almost entirely through MSC mainline calls, has demonstrated that Kerala’s coast can handle ULCV mainline traffic. DP World Cochin’s record Ilaria call signals that the established Cochin terminal is not standing still — it is simultaneously upgrading its capacity to service the same class of vessels. For MSC, having two capable ULCV-ready ports within Kerala’s coast creates operational flexibility that is commercially valuable.

UPSIDA-JNPA Partner on Lalitpur Pharma Park

In a significant industrial connectivity initiative, the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop the proposed Lalitpur Pharma Park in Uttar Pradesh as a globally connected pharmaceutical export hub, with direct maritime linkage to JNPA — India’s largest container port.

The partnership creates a direct supply chain bridge between landlocked UP’s pharmaceutical manufacturing cluster and the global market access that JNPA provides through its 8.17 million TEU annual container throughput and its connections to virtually every major container shipping lane. For pharmaceutical manufacturers in the Lalitpur area, the JNPA connectivity means faster export routing, access to temperature-controlled container services, and the ability to participate in the reefer export market for temperature-sensitive formulations that require rapid, reliable cold chain logistics. The MoU was signed by UPSIDA CEO Vijay Kiran Anand and JNPA Chairman Gaurav Dayal. The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor’s full commissioning — with direct rail connectivity from JNPT to Dadri, near which UP industrial clusters are clustered — makes the Lalitpur-JNPA logistics chain operationally viable at the scale the pharma park will need.