As we make our technique to the Port Operations Building (POB) inside the increasing Vizhinjam international port in Thiruvananthapuram on a sweltering afternoon, we anticipate to listen to the buzz of autos and folks transferring round. However, near-deafening silence welcomes us. But as soon as we’re inside the POB, the scene modifications. All the motion occurs right here, in the distant management operations (RCO) room, the place a bunch of skilled palms monitor, plan and operate the motion of vessels and cargo that depart and arrive at the port.
Among them we see three women, carrying uniforms of pigeon blue shirts and trousers, glued to large screens, as they monitor the stocking of containers in the yard. They operate CRMG (Cantilever Rail-Mounted Gantry) cranes, that are ‘mounted on rails and move along the dock to lift or transport containers. They are among the nine women CRMG operators who have created history as Vizhinjam port is the only automated port in India and is India’s first international multi-purpose deep water seaport mission.
There are 24 CRMG cranes at the port. An operator’s work includes dealing with the loading and unloading of cargo from the ITV (Internal transit or transportation or switch car) to the yard and vice versa. The crane is managed from a distant console. The operator can see the crane’s place, standing, and efficiency on a display screen, which shows real-time knowledge and video feeds from the crane’s sensors and cameras. The command is given utilizing a joystick.
Women who operate automated CRMG cranes at Vizhinjam international port in Thiruvananthapuram
| Photo Credit:
Sreejith R Kumar
“The focus has been on skill development and sustainable income generation as per the company’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and CER (Corporate Environment Responsibility) intervention. We are also committed to the empowerment of women. The objective was to create career opportunities for women, especially those living in the project area, in port-related works, which entails the use of technology,” says an official with the Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Ltd, which is working the port. The crane operators have been skilled at the port beneath the steerage of Adani Skill Development Centre, which has varied port-related programs.
CRMG (Cantilever Rail-Mounted Gantry) cranes at Vizhinjam international port in Thiruvananthapuram
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Applications had been invited from diploma or diploma holders and the requirement was introduced by way of native assets and establishments. Karthika L, Sreedevi AV, Ashalekshmi P, Anisha S, Prinu P, Steffy Rebeira, Nathana Mary JD, Rejitha RN and Sunitha Raj L are the 9 operators, who work with 11 males in the part.
Karthika, 27, is the seniormost, having joined the firm earlier than the first batch of cranes arrived at Vizhinjam in October 2023. This diploma holder in instrumentation and engineering has the expertise of getting operated the RTG (rubber drained gantry) cranes at DP World-run international container trans-shipment mission at Vallarpadam in Kochi. “In RTGs, you manually control the crane sitting inside a cabin with the joystick. But CRMG is a different space in terms of the technology and the job profile,” says Karthika.
She underwent a month-long coaching in Gujarat, the place she discovered how RMGs lifted containers from trains and in addition labored in simulated cranes. “I was overjoyed when I got a job at a highly-anticipated project like Vizhinjam port. A memorable moment was when we were allowed to board the first mothership San Fernando when it berthed at the port [on July 11, 2024]. I was there when the first container was lifted. Being the lone woman in that initial batch of seven crane operators it was a privilege,” Karthika says.
(From left) Steffy Rebeira, Karthika L and Anisha S are amongst the 9 women who operate automated cranes at Vizhinjam international port in Thiruvananthapuram.
| Photo Credit:
Sreejith R Kumar
Sreedevi, 37, was the subsequent to affix, a month after the trial run of the port began, adopted by the others. Nathana, 23, a physics graduate is the youngest.
“All of us had on-the-job training. We now have three 12-hour shifts. Each of us has two day shifts, two night shifts and two days off in that order,” says Anisha S, a submit graduate in maths, hailing from Nellikkunnu, who joined the port seven months in the past.
Errors can occur, though the crane can carry out most of the actions routinely. Operators intervene in such instances and so they manually appropriate it utilizing joysticks.
Prina, who began work six months in the past, says, “The work calls for immense concentration. You can’t afford to take it easy.” A local of Mukkola, this BEd holder, who had been taking tuitions at residence, says that she heard about the job from her church. “I have grown up hearing about the project and it feels surreal to be working here. There is job security and workplace safety. Also, it feels great to be making our presence in a male-dominated field. Only that I need to get used to the 12-hour shift,” says the 31-year-old.
At least two vessels berth at the port day by day. As per the knowledge launched a few days in the past, the port dealt with the most variety of cargo amongst the 15 ports in the jap and southern areas of the nation final month, which is 78,833 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) from 40 ships, that too eight months after the trial run and three months of business operations.
Nine women are amongst the 20 individuals who operate automated CRMG cranes at the Vizhinjam international port
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
When there are not any vessels, the operators get busy with reassembling the containers in the yard. “The containers are rearranged so as to expedite loading,” Karthika says.
Since all these women workers belong to low-income households they cherish the monetary independence attained by way of the job. Most of them are married with youngsters. Steffy, who joined final September, says, “I was teaching at a private school after my BEd. The work atmosphere and the nature of the job have changed my life for the better,” says Steffy.
Anisha provides, “All that I have to do is commit myself fully to this job. It might look easy, but you need to be alert always.”
According to an official, as soon as they achieve expertise, these women may get the probability to operate the Quasy Cranes (QC) which are used to raise containers from the ship to the ITVs or vice versa. They are semi-automated since the course of needs to be carried out manually by the operator utilizing the joystick. Currently solely males are working as QC operators.
Published – March 07, 2025 10:14 am IST
