CICT to attract TEUs from Chittagong

By Gamini Warushamana

Construction work on the third stage of the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) of the Colombo port, the first and only deep water terminal in the South Asia region, has been completed and a ceremony will be held next week to mark the occasion. Chinese Ambassador in Colombo and top officials of China Merchants Holdings International (CMHI) will be present, said CICT General Manager Tissa Wickramasinghe.

Wickramasinghe said that with the completion of the terminal, the Colombo port will attract at least another 0.5 million TEUs from the Chittagong harbour in Bangladesh.

At present 1.5 million TEUs come out from Chittagong while the Colombo port attracted only around 300,000 TEUs and the rest was handled through Singapore and Malaysian ports.

CICT of the Colombo South Port was completed in three stages and operations were launched last year. Now the CICT can birth and dock larger vessels with around 18,000 TEU capacity.

This has significantly improved transshipment capacity and competitiveness of the Colombo port making it the leading transhipment port in the South Asian region.

Now it can cater to the vast markets of the Indian subcontinent and could alter container supply chains in the region, he said.

The Colombo port handled around 95 percent of its capacity and as a result it was unable to expand market share. With the completion of CICT, an annual capacity of 2.5 million TEU has been added.

The terminal has a total berth length of 1.2 km and a alongside depth of 18 metres. Last year, Colombo's throughput at the three terminals in its older port area amounted to 4.2m TEUs. The CICT project, a joint venture with a $500m investment by CMHI, which holds an 85% stake and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) holding the remaining 15%.