It was declared to be a major port on 11 July 1974. It is second-largest port in Tamil Nadu and fourth-largest container terminal in India. This is the third international port in Tamil Nadu and its second all-weather port. Tuticorin is the only port in South India to provide a direct weekly container service to the United States. The transit time to the United States is 22 days. There are regular weekly direct services to Europe (transit time 17 days), China (transit time 10 days) and Red Sea Ports (transit time 8 days).