Eastern sea corridor between Chennai and Vladivostok
The eastern sea corridor linking the Indian port city of Chennai with Vladivostok, Russia's largest Pacific port, is back in service. It cuts cargo delivery times from 40 to 24 days compared with the Suez Canal route.
Eastern sea corridor between Chennai and Vladivostok
The eastern sea corridor between the large Indian city of Chennai and Vladivostok, Russia’s largest commercial port, is up and running, according to Sarbananda Sonowal, India’s Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. The route was heavily used in Soviet times, but cargo shipments along it later stopped. Since 2019 Russia and India have been working to revive deliveries along the Chennai–Vladivostok trade corridor. Ships carrying crude oil, metals and textiles have begun calling at Indian ports.
Compared with the more traditional sea route through the Suez Canal, this corridor cuts cargo delivery times by an average of 16 days, from 40 to 24 days. Using the route will also reduce by as much as 40% the distance needed to move goods between India and the Russian Far East.
A standard container ship cruising at 20–25 knots (37–46 km/h) will be able to cover the distance in about 10–12 days.
The revived route, which runs through the waters of the Sea of Japan as well as the East China and South China Seas, linking strategic ports of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, is around 5,600 nautical miles (over 10,300 km) long.
Chennai is a large city in south-east India, on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It is the capital of Tamil Nadu and is considered one of India’s biggest industrial, economic and cultural centres. Chennai was conceived from the outset as a major port city and remains one of India’s largest ports.
Chennai is India’s automotive capital, producing more than 40% of the country’s cars. It is home to plants run by Hyundai, Ford, Mitsubishi, TVS, Ashok Leyland, Royal Enfield, Ti Cycles and MRF. Military equipment is also made in Chennai, including the Arjun, the country’s most numerous tank. The Madras Stock Exchange is based in the city. Chennai has well-developed financial and banking sectors, and many international banks have branches there. The city’s IT sector is booming and the world’s largest IT centre is under construction.
Vladivostok is Russia’s largest port on the Pacific. It lies 50 km from the border with China and is important for logistics and trade, with direct container trains linking it to other regions of Russia, including Moscow.
Besides the eastern corridor between Chennai and Vladivostok, India is also interested in other transport corridors running through Russia that connect it with Europe, among them the Northern Sea Route and the North–South corridor. I looked at the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), promoted by Russia, Iran and India, in earlier articles; you can read those. I will look at the Northern Sea Route later.