Union minister for ports, shipping and waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, on Monday, inaugurated the VOC maritime heritage museum and laid foundations for projects worth more than 1,500 crore.

The museum is dedicated to preserving India's maritime legacy and commemorating the contributions of freedom fighter VO Chidambaranar. The museum is expected to contribute to public understanding of maritime history and promote tourism, officials said.

The minister laid foundation stones for initiatives including upgraded rail and road connectivity, enhanced power infrastructure, renewable energy projects covering solar, wind, battery storage and green hydrogen, advanced safety systems, and digital platforms. These initiatives are expected to significantly improve cargo evacuation, reduce vessel turnaround time, strengthen multimodal logistics, and enhance operational safety at the port, they added.

VOC Port also saw the commissioning of three new berths over the past 18 months, substantially boosting its bulk cargo handling capacity. Work on the outer harbour project is progressing steadily and is set to enable the handling of larger vessels and increased trade volumes in the coming years, officials said.

The port is also enabling real-time monitoring, Al-assisted analytics, predictive maintenance, and data-driven operational optimisation. An advanced anti-drone system was deployed to further strengthen the security of critical port infrastructure, officials added.

Source: The Times Of India 

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