Adani-JKH West Container Terminal at Colombo Port to receive first vessel in 1Q25
The Morning: Sri Lanka’s Adani-John Keells Holding (JKH) West Container Terminal (WCT) at Colombo Port is expected to receive its first vessel in the first quarter of 2025 adding 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to the port capacity, JKH Chairperson Krishan Balendra said.
Speaking at the JKH investor webinar last week for Q2 of the 2024/25 financial year, he said that phase 1 of the WCT is expected to be operational in Q1 of 2025 which will add 1.5 million TEUs to the eight million TEU capacity at Colombo Port.
He said that the first batch of quay and yard cranes for WCT arrived in September, and the cranes’ commissioning is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2024.
JKH quarterly report said that the quay length in phase 1 facilitates the servicing of two large vessels concurrently which will enable a higher throughput once phase 1 is completed.
“The remainder of the terminal is expected to be completed by mid-2026,” the report told shareholders.
Moreover, he said that the timeframe for operationalising the Sri Lanka Port Authority-run East Container Terminal (ECT) is unclear.
He added that even if the ECT becomes operational only part of the terminal will become operational, of which the capacity addition to the Colombo Port would not be material.
The ECT project is expected to add a maximum of 2.4 million TEUs capacity to the Colombo Port once fully operationalised.
“We have to see how quickly the rest of the ECT becomes operational, if it does become operational over the next 18 months, which from what we see does not look likely, then it can have an impact. If it (becomes operational) is spread over a few years it won’t be such a material addition of capacity to the port,” Balendra said.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s maritime industry is on a growth and expansion path as the country works toward becoming a maritime hub in the South Asian region. The country’s maritime industry has greatly benefited from Sri Lanka’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean in close proximity to international sea lanes along with the many trade agreements and trade concessions enjoyed by the country with many foreign countries. All these developments have resulted in the expansion of business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s maritime industry, especially in the ports, shipping and logistics sectors. The ports and shipping sectors have presented many business/investment opportunities given the development programmes in these sectors to be on par with the fast-evolving global standards in the maritime industry. The interest shown by the Chinese and India’s Adani Group in investing in Sri Lanka’s maritime industry are indicative of the business potential in the local industry. Given the growing business potential in Sri Lanka’s maritime industry and the overall economy, foreign businesses/investors to explore the revolving business/investment opportunities in the country’s maritime industry.
Article Code : | VBS/AT/20241019/Z_1 |