Colachel Seaport 2.66

The Colachel International Seaport ,also known as Enayam port, is proposed and located in Colachel, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India into a major port transforming it into India’s southern trans-shipment gateway. The project costs Rs 28000 crore. Reclaiming 500 acres of land from the sea.This will be taken up in three phases. Colachel is already a natural harbor with water that is about 20 meters deep. The proposed port is less than four nautical miles away from the international shipping channel. The Colachel port would have the ability to handle around two million metric tonnes of cargo initially, which would gradually be enhanced to eight million metric tonnes in the coming years.HistoryIt is an ancient port town, Vasco da Gama called it ‘Colachi’. Tamil nadu, as early as the 3rd century BC, had more than 16 such ports — between Chennai and Tirunelveli — that helped it maintain direct maritime links with China and Southeast Asian countries. Before the State re-organization in 1956, it was part of the Travancore State. After the defeat of the Dutch by King Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma in 1741, a victory pillar had been erected near the beach in commemoration of the victory. The town is bounded on the south by Arabian Sea.Battle of ColachelColachel was the location of the battle between the Travancore forces led by King Marthanda Varma and the Dutch East India Company forces led by Admiral Eustachius De Lannoy on August 10, 1741. It was the first time in Indian history that a small kingdom defeated a European naval force.The Dutch marines landed in Colachel with artillery and captured the land up to Padmanabhapuram, the then capital of Travancore. The arrival of Marthanda Varma's army led by his general Anandha padmanaba nadar from the north forced the Dutch to take up defensive positions in Colachel, where they were attacked and defeated by the Travancore forces. Twenty-eight high level Dutch officers, including Admiral D'lennoy, were captured. The defeat of the Dutch in Colachel was the turning point of the Travancore-Dutch War. D'lennoy went on to serve Marthanda Varma for the next two decades and was promoted to the post of the Valiya kappithan of the Travancore Kingdom..