The Vizhinjam International Seaport recently welcomed its third mother ship, the MSC Orion, marking another milestone in its development. The ship, owned by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), arrived on Wednesday with approximately 15,000 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) of containers. This follows previous visits by MSC vessels like the MSC Deila and MSC Adu V, and signals a growing interest from MSC in making Vizhinjam a key hub. With Vizhinjam set to begin full commercial operations by December 2024, the involvement of major shipping lines like MSC is crucial. It’s hoped that securing such anchor customers will boost the port's prospects and help it achieve its goal of handling over one million TEUs in its first phase. The port aims to decrease the country’s reliance on Colombo for transhipment. Discussions are ongoing between Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of APSEZ, and MSC, but no formal agreement has been finalized yet. However, the port’s successful handling of MSC Orion, which will manage around 3,000 containers during its visit, and the previous operations of MSC Adu V, which handled about 3,000 containers in total, suggest that the port is on the right track. MSC's evaluation of the port's operations is a positive sign, and a potential agreement could be reached before the port's official commissioning.