Cochin Port

Cochin Port is a major port on the Arabian Sea – Indian Ocean sea-route and is one of the largest ports in India. The port lies on two islands in the Lake of Kochi: Willingdon Island and Vallarpadam, towards the Fort Kochi river mouth opening onto the Arabian Sea. The International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT), part of the Cochin Port, is the largest container transshipment facility in India.

The port is governed by the Cochin Port Trust (CPT), a government of India establishment. The modern port was established in 1926 and has completed 86 years of active service.

The Kochi Port is one of a line of maritime-related facilities based in the port-city of Kochi. The others are the Cochin Shipyard, the largest shipbuilding as well as maintenance facility in India; the SPM (single point mooring) facility of the Kochi Refineries, an offshore crude carrier mooring facility; and the Kochi Marina.

History

The Cochin port was formed naturally due to the great floods of Periyar in 1341 AD, which choked the Muziris port (near present-day Kodungallur), one of the greatest ports in ancient world. Ever since, Kochi became one of the major ports with extensive trading relations Romans, Greeks and Arabs, all lured by the traditional spice wealth of the state. The port further attracted European colonialists like Portuguese, Dutch and finally British who extended their supremacy over the Kingdom of Cochin and the port city of Fort Kochi. The traditional port was near Mattancherry (which still continues as Mattancherry Wharf).

Kochi

Kochi ([koˈtʃːi ]), also known as Cochin (KO-chin), is a major port city on the south-west coast of India by the Arabian Sea and is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. It is often called Ernakulam, which refers to the mainland part of the city. With a total metropolitan population of 2.1 million. It is the second largest city corporation in Kerala, with a corporation limit population of 612,343 and is part of an extended metropolitan region, which is the largest urban agglomeration in the state. Kochi city is also a part of the Greater Cochin region and is classified as a Tier-II city by the Government of India. The civic body that governs the city is the Cochin Municipal Corporation, which was constituted in the year 1967, and the statutory bodies that oversee its development are the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) and the Goshree Islands Development Authority (GIDA).

Known as the Queen of the Arabian Sea, Kochi was an important spice trading centre on the west coast of India from the 14th century. Occupied by the Portuguese in 1503, Kochi was the first of the European colonies in colonial India. It remained the main seat of Portuguese India until 1530, when Goa was chosen instead. The city was later occupied by the Dutch and the British, with the Kingdom of Cochin becoming a princely state. Kochi ranks first in the total number of international and domestic tourist arrivals in Kerala. Kochi has been ranked the sixth best tourist destination in India according to a survey conducted by the Nielsen Company on behalf of the Outlook Traveller magazine. Kochi was one of the 28 Indian cities found to be among the emerging 440 global cities that will contribute 50% of the world GDP by the year 2025, in a 2011 study done by the McKinsey Global Institute.

MS Quantum of the Seas

MS Quantum of the Seas is a cruise ship for Royal Caribbean International (RCI) and the lead ship of the Quantum class of cruise ships. The Quantum class surpasses RCI's earlier Freedom-class ships by over 14,000 GT, becoming the second largest class of passenger ships behind RCI's Oasis class ships on a gross tonnage basis.Quantum of the Seas was delivered to RCI on October 28, 2014 and is sailing from Shanghai, China.

Concept and construction

On February 11, 2011, RCI announced that it had ordered the first of a new class of ships from the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, scheduled to be delivered by Fall 2014. At the time, the project was code-named "Project Sunshine". Later that year, two 20.5-megawatt ABB Azipod XO propulsion units were ordered for that ship. On February 29, 2012 the company announced that a second "Project Sunshine" ship had been ordered and would be delivered by Spring 2015, and ordered identical Azipod propulsion units shortly thereafter. Just under a year later, on January 31, 2013, steel cutting for the first ship began with a silhouette of the ship being cut by the lasers. The same day, RCI announced the official name of the new class of ships, Quantum Class, as well as the names of the first two ships in the class, Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas. Details on the major features of Quantum of the Seas were announced on April 16, 2013.

RMS Queen Mary 2

RMS Queen Mary 2 (also referred to as the QM2) is a transatlantic ocean liner. She is the only major ocean liner built for Cunard Line since Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1969, the vessel she succeeded as flagship of the Cunard Line.

The new ship was named Queen Mary 2 by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004 after the first 1936 namesake ship RMS Queen Mary. Queen Mary was in turn named after Mary of Teck, consort of King George V. With the retirement of Queen Elizabeth 2 in 2008, Queen Mary 2 is the only transatlantic ocean liner in line service between Southampton and New York, which operates for part of each year. The ship is also used for cruising, including an annual world cruise.

The ship was designed by a team of British naval architects led by Stephen Payne, and was constructed in France by Chantiers de l'Atlantique in 2003. At the time of her construction, Queen Mary 2 was the longest passenger ship ever built, and with her gross tonnage of 148,528 also the largest. She no longer holds this distinction after the construction of Royal Caribbean International's 154,407 GT Freedom of the Seas in April 2006, but remains the largest ocean liner ever built.

Fort Kochi

Fort Kochi is a region in the city of Kochi in the state of Kerala, India. This is part of a handful of water-bound regions toward the south-west of the mainland Kochi, and collectively known as Old Kochi or West Kochi. Adjacent to this is Mattancherry. In 1967, these three municipalities, along with a few adjoining areas, were amalgamated to form the Corporation of Cochin. Suhas Shivanna IAS is the subcollector and SDM of Fort Kochi.

Origin of the name Kochi

One theory for the origin of the name is that it derives from 'kochazhi' which, in Malayalam, denotes "small estuary".

Location

Scientific theory

In the BC period, the region that is today known as Kerala was covered by mangrove woods. Turf and sand banks were created with the rise in sea-level which formed the shape of the coastal area as we see it today. The name Cochin implies "co-chin", meaning "like-China". It looked like China when the Chinese came to the region during the 14th century and installed Chinese nets. Mattancherry is the nerve town of old historic Cochin. In old Malayalam it is maadan-cherry, cherry meaning town. Maad or cow was the stamp of Old Royal Fort of Rajah of Cochin, who built his palace after the fall of Kodungallur or Mussaris port due to a gigantic tsunami in 1341 AD. The Perumpadappu Swaroopam or the Forte of Rajah had its palace on the banks of the Calvathy River. Due to frequent wars between King Zamorin of Kozhikode and the western colonial forces, the Rajah left the place for Tripunithura. The king had his vaishnav leanings and cow or maadu was their symbol.