Vizhinjam International Seaport had acquired reach stacker cranes, which are specialised mobile cranes capable of lifting and moving containers outside the port for transportation to other parts of the country. This would allow containers to be transported to designated locations outside the yard. The Minister of Ports, V N Vasavan, stated that the reach stackers are known for their excellent manoeuvrability and high load capacity. He added that four reach stackers were required for the initial phase of operations at Vizhinjam, and that two of them had already arrived. These modern reach stackers, imported from China, would be followed by the arrival of the remaining two in the coming days. It was explained that the port typically uses ship-to-shore cranes and yard cranes for container handling. However, since these cranes cannot move containers outside the yard, mobile cranes were being brought in for this purpose. The port was gradually preparing to handle gateway and exim (cargo bound for export and import) containers and would begin moving containers out of the port to other parts of the country. The port was expected to be ready for such cargo the following month, and authorities had requested the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to make a temporary arrangement to facilitate easier movement for container trucks on the highway.