TCI Seaways Explores Dedicated Chennai-Ranong Shipping Service

Port-level cooperation between Chennai and Ranong dates to November 2019, when the two ports signed a sister-port agreement at the first BIMSTEC Ports’ Conclave, alongside similar pacts for Visakhapatnam and Kolkata. BIMSTEC adopted a Master Plan for Transport Connectivity in 2022 and signed an Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation in April 2025. TCI Seaways has not disclosed a launch date, vessel, cargo capacity, port rotation, or sailing frequency.

A viable Chennai-Ranong service would give shippers another route between India’s east coast and Thailand, shortening the alternative of routing cargo through Singapore or other transshipment hubs. Its usefulness would depend on sailing reliability, inland connections at both ends, and total door-to-door cost rather than transit time alone, and on there being enough cargo moving in both directions to sustain regular sailings. For now, the BIMSTEC policy framework provides enabling context, not a guarantee that the route will launch.