Vehicle transshipment business flourishes at Hambantota port

The Hambantota port which created negative news headlines and criticism in the media from the time construction work was launched, has now begun to make striking business news with the flourishing vehicle transshipment business, Project Director, Agil Hewageegana told Sunday Observer Business.

“We have attracted new business to the country and did not divert the vehicle transshipment business from the Colombo port.

All vehicle imports to the country too are coming in through the Hambantota port and there is huge international business in the port. Around 18 ships call at the port every month and a ship carries 500 vehicles on average. The Colombo port does not have the capacity for vehicle transshipment due to space limitations and only around 1,000 vehicles were earlier transshipped annually.

Today in Hambantota we handle over 9,000 vehicles per month and vehicles produced in India and Japan that are transshipped to destinations in Europe are among them,” he said.

He said that in the next 4-6 months installation of cranes in the port will be completed and thereafter cargo handling in the port will begin.

Construction work on phase II of the project is also underway. We used the space available in the port for the vehicle transshipment business and now it has attracted world attention.Hewageegana said that the port earns all the port charges due for the transshipment of vehicles and the government charges taxes on vehicle imports through the Hambantota port and there is a misconception on the state of a free port.

The free port concept is applied for industries set up in the Hambantota port and they have to pay the port charges as only port taxes are exempted. For instance, any industry that imports items and adds value at the Hambantota port and re-exports them will get tax exemption.

Therefore, we are earning revenue from all the businesses we handle at the port, he said.

- GW