Moving beyond transshipment to maritime services

CIMC highlights new prospects for Hambantota and Trincomalee:

The Colombo International Maritime Conference (CIMC) will open up a new chapter for the maritime industry of Sri Lanka to transit to a new area of focus and develop the maritime economy beyond container transshipment via the Port of Colombo.

The Port of Colombo as the leading transshipment hub in South Asia and ranked within top 30 in the world with world class terminals will have its own challenges, to grow and provide more services to shipping lines and regional shippers, to satisfy customer needs and to develop new businesses to keep Colombo as the preferred transshipment location in South Asia and support all related logistics services.

Today, the combined maritime sector contributes less than 2.5% to the national GDP as per available data.

This is not satisfactory. The Minister of Ports and Shipping and the Ministry has set a target for Colombo to be within the top 20 container ports in the world by 2020.

Industry stakeholders will support this initiative, but we think the government expects the maritime sector to contribute at least 6% of GDP by 2030. To achieve this we need to diversify, attract FDI and create a conducive environment for global capital and maritime services to have regional officers and service centres to be located in Sri Lanka.

"Hence, we need to look at other ports around the island and increase other maritime related activities to do the transformation.

Trincomalee

A lot of effort is needed by all stakeholders in the sector. In terms of policy and execution, the government has a lot to do and the CIMC is the platform we have created to take this dialogue forward until we achieve targets," said chairman, organising committee, Rohan Masakorala. For decades one of the most beautiful and natural harbours of the world had not been taken into consideration for economic expansion. Of course the military conflict was the number one issue.

We have to focus as this port as it is ideally located to service the Indian east coast, Bangladesh and Myanmar for many types of shipping services, including bulk and general cargo, it is also ideal for ferry services and cruise and yacht tourism.

Trincomalee can be the main service port for industrial and general cargo distribution, ship repair and shipbuilding, dockyard services, ship management and to provide services for ships when they are idling.

The recent visit by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to Singapore to seek assistance to develop the Trincomalee port area master plan is a very positive step taken by the government. A major port in the East can generate employment in the North and the East.

Hambantota

Aproper financial and a marketing plan and an investor-friendly environment, Hambantota can be one of the major ports where industries can be set up and ship operators could benefit due to reduced costs in shipping in the Indian subcontinent services.

It is paramount that we have energy services in Hambantota, including a refinery facility, to provide ships with bunkers and in the long run develop a regional LNG supply location for shipping services as hybrid ships are being designed now.

Such facilities will have a multiplier effect on the country and the regional shipping industry.

The Hambantota development project was on the drawing boards for probably over three decades and the last regime accelerated the project but they lacked a strategy and proper financial discipline and of course it was proven beyond doubt they did not have a plan either to develop business or to utilize the capacity when it was commissioned.

The location was always attractive to be developed for shipping. If Jebel Ali port in Dubai, a fishing village in the desert, could be transformed into a major shipping hub which is not on the main shipping route, Hambantota could be transformed if proper planning and modeling was done and a step by step approach taken by the then policymakers.

A good example was during President J.R. Jayawardena's time, when the then minster of Ports and Shipping, the late Lalith Athulathmudali, had a strategic approach to transform the port of Colombo into a major container transshipment hub and step by step achieved the goal.

The plan to work with China to develop the port that they funded is the correct move, but the government must work with other maritime nations and investors to use Hambantota for shipping and maritime related services as well.

The success of Singapore is not only the location and business-friendly environment. But its ability to be a major energy supplier and occupy the number one slot for bunkering, has in turn made it an attractive location for services beyond the ship.

The Colombo International Maritime Conference 2016 will discuss issues pertaining to port development beyond the ship, to develop new industries related to the maritime sector and how the port of Hambantota and Trincomalee could be transformed to attract global companies to develop new business ventures to service regional markets.