Along its coastline of 585 Kms, Kerala has one major port at Cochin and 17 non-major ports. The non-major ports are under the administration of Government of Kerala. Government of Kerala intends to provide a boost to coastal shipping with the development of ports, which will ease the burden on the heavily congested highways in the State apart from savings in transportation cost. The Cochin Port, with container handling facility, is one of the most modern international seaports in the country. It spreads over 827 hectares and has a water frontage of 7.5 Km.

An International Container Transshipment Terminal is being developed at Vallarpadam in Kochi, completion of which would make the Cochin port a major hub port in the Indian Ocean region. Government has also decided to develop a Deep Water Container Transshipment Terminal at Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram through PPP mode. The Terminal when completed would be able to cater to container vessels up to 8000 TEUs in the initial phase and 10000 to 12000 TEUs sizes in the subsequent phases.