When Adani built India’s first deep-water transshipment port to receive the largest container ships afloat, it trusted one supplier to mark the way in — Aeromarine. 18 channel buoys, 2 Port Entry Lights, engineered, manufactured and commissioned entirely in India.
CLIENT
Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd, via EPC contractor HOWE Engineering — plus a direct Adani order
SCOPE
18 channel buoys + 2 Port Entry Lights
WORK
Made in India: manufacture, supply, installation & commissioning
DELIVERED
Full channel marked, end to end, for India’s first transshipment port
18
NAVIGATION BUOYS
2
PORT ENTRY LIGHTS
100%
MADE IN INDIA
24,346
TEU SHIPS GUIDED IN SAFELY
THE CHALLENGE
Vizhinjam is not just another port call. Sited barely 10 nautical miles off the main east–west shipping corridor linking Europe, the Gulf, Southeast Asia and the Far East, with a natural draft of over 20 metres needing minimal dredging, it is India’s first deep-water container transshipment hub — built to bring home cargo that has for decades routed through Colombo, Dubai and Singapore. It already berths the biggest ships afloat: MSC Irina, the world’s largest container ship, and MSC Türkiye, at 24,346 TEU, have both called here. A vessel that size does not enter a channel on guesswork — it needs buoys holding exactly where they were laid and a light marking exactly where the centreline runs, every single time. Adani Ports & SEZ, operating Vizhinjam under a 40-year concession, needed its approach channel, turning basin and inner harbour marked to IALA Region A standard: six classes of buoy, moorings engineered for water up to 150 metres deep, and a Port Entry Light on the channel’s precise 317°N alignment. A project of this national weight left no room for anything less than one accountable Indian manufacturer — not a system assembled from imported parts.
“A gateway that will keep India’s own trade at home.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally inaugurated Vizhinjam International Seaport on 2 May 2025 — the channel Aeromarine marks is the one he opened to the nation.
WHAT AEROMARINE DID
- Engineered at Aeromarine and manufactured entirely in India — rotationally moulded in UV-stabilised virgin polyethylene at Aeromarine’s own works, built for a service life of 10 years+ — 18 navigational buoys across six IALA-compliant configurations: 2 red-and-white fairway buoys, 4 green starboard-hand buoys outside the breakwater plus 2 inside the turning basin, 4 red port-hand buoys outside the breakwater plus 4 inside the turning basin, and 2 black-and-yellow south cardinal marks fitted with Racon — in 2500mm and 3000mm diameters.
- Fitted every buoy with a Sealite SLC-310 solar marine lantern — 20 ultra-high-intensity LEDs, over 3 NM range, up to 256 IALA-recommended flash characters, Bluetooth remote monitoring and over 20 days’ solar autonomy — including two dedicated white lanterns for the fairway buoys.
- Engineered and supplied the complete mooring system for each buoy: cast-iron sinkers up to 3,000 kg, 38mm stud-link chain up to 42 metres, 25-tonne D-shackles and adaptor swivels, rated for water depths up to 150 metres — built to hold, not just to float.
- Supplied, installed and commissioned two Sealite SL60 solar Port Entry Lights, each mounted on a single tower, to mark the centreline of the inner channel on its 317°N alignment — 20 nautical mile night range, IP67/68 rated, with AIS/GPS/GSM remote monitoring capability.
- Positioned and commissioned all 18 buoys and both Port Entry Lights on station across the approach channel and turning basin, verified to survey-grade GPS accuracy, to the approved channel marking plan.
- Earned enough trust to be brought back directly: beyond its main EPC contract routed through HOWE Engineering Projects, Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd placed its own follow-on purchase order on Aeromarine in January 2026, for a second Port Entry Light.
THE OUTCOME · WHY AEROMARINE IS THE FIRST CHOICE
A complete, Made-in-India aids-to-navigation system — 18 channel buoys, engineered moorings and two Port Entry Lights — now marks the approach channel and inner harbour of India’s first deep-water transshipment port, guiding in the largest container ships ever to call at an Indian port.
MSC Irina, the largest container ship afloat, has already berthed at Vizhinjam — ships that size leave zero margin for error, and accurate aids to navigation are the difference between a safe transit and a national incident. That is why Adani chose Aeromarine, and why it came back directly for more. It is a pattern: Aeromarine marked JNPT’s entire channel, 22 buoys and 18 leading lights, in 30 days against a 90-day contract; built India’s first Make-in-India CALM buoys for IOCL Paradip; and laid 325 buoys to protect the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park. When a channel cannot fail, they call Aeromarine first. Supplied under HOWE Engineering Projects PO 4540001383 (₹3.00 crore, 2023) and Adani’s own direct PO 4502040604 (₹16.46 lakh, 2026), with full IALA-compliant documentation on file.
Made in India: Manufactured, Rigged and Ready
Every buoy rotationally moulded, rigged and lantern-fitted at Aeromarine’s own works, then staged for shipment to Kerala.
The finished fleet, staged on the quay before shipment
