Colombo harbour expansion project:

Construction work to be completed by 2012

By Shirajiv SIRIMANE

The Colombo harbour expansion project would be completed by the end of April next year, heralding a new era in the maritime industry of the country. The opening of the harbour would not only benefit the maritime industry, but would also boost the economy, taking the country towards its goal of becoming the Wonder of Asia.

Deputy Ports Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardene said in comparison to other major development projets that are being carried out all over the country, the Colombo Port saw no major improvements. The expansion of the Colombo Port was a crying need of the maritime industry. Although this proposal was made almost 18 years ago, it never saw the light of day.

"It was under the Mahinda Chintana that the decision was taken to go ahead with this project and today over 60 percent of it has been completed," he said.

Chairman of the Sri Lanka Port Authority, (SLPA) Dr. Priyath Wickrama said that the new harbour will generate 25,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities. He said the companies that are constructing the terminals will invest US$ 1.5 million on the project. "Construction of the breakwater and dredging of the harbour basin will be completed by April next year," he said.

The expansion of the port would help the country to emerge as the maritime and logistics hub in the region," he said. The completed harbours are expected to bring in a revenue of over Rs. 1.7 million, thus contributing a considerable amount to the GDP of the country.

The Chairman said in view of the rapid development in all sectors of the economy, the role to be played by sea ports has become extremely important. "Due to the advantage in terms of location, it is expected that the volume of transshipment cargo and containers will be increased within the next few years," he said.

The project will promote economic growth by improving Sri Lanka's competitiveness in the port sector by expanding the Colombo Port and facilitating economic growth by enhancing national competitiveness in international trade via lower transport costs and faster delivery times.

ADB, SLPA fund project

The investment on the Colombo Port expansion program is US$ 450 million and over 80 percent of the funding would come from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The rest would be met by the SLPA. Hyundai Engineering Corporation of Korea would be handling the construction. "With the commissioning of the expansion project, overall efficiency of the Colombo Port would double and it is expected that the expanded sector would handle 11 million container movements by 2020," said Project Director, Susantha Abeysiriwardane. He said they are hoping to build a pilot control station tower in the expanded section and modern equipment would be used make it an attractive harbour.

The expanded harbour will have four terminals, each over 1,200m in length, to accommodate three berths alongside depths of 18m. The channel width of the harbour would be 560m and a depth of 20m, with a harbour basin depth of 18m and a 600m turning circle. The proposed Colombo South Harbour will be located west of the present south-west breakwater.

The development of Phase-1 of the Colombo South Harbour is to be carried out in two stages. The first stage of development involves the infrastructure with public funds (US$ 300 million) and the second stage involves terminal facilities (US$ 700 million) with private sector participation. The new port would cover an area of 600 hectares and the main breakwater would be 5.1 kilometres.

Port history

The Colombo Harbour (known as Kolomtota in the early 14th Century Kotte Kingdom) is the largest and busiest port in Sri Lanka according to Wikipedia.

Located in Colombo, on the south western shores of the Kelani River, it serves as an important terminal in Asia due to its strategic location in the Indian Ocean.

During the 1980s, the port underwent rapid modernisation with the installation of cranes, gantries and other modern-day terminal requirements. Since then, it was virtually ignored as far as infrastructure development was concerned.

Currently, the Colombo Harbour is one of the busiest ports in the world, and ranks among the top 35 ports. It is also one of the biggest artificial harbours in the world, handling most of the country's foreign trade and the new expansion would add value to it.

The Colombo Port has three container terminals: Jaya Container Terminal (JCT), South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT - operated by John Keells Holdings) and Unity Container Terminal (UCT).

These terminals operate round-the-clock and report faster turnaround times than any other operator in the region.

This is the first time five harbours - Colombo, Ruhunu Magampura, Oluvil, Galle and Trincomalee - are simultaneously being developed in the country, making maximum use of the sea and taking the nation towards becoming the Wonder of Asia.