Colombo Port’s East and West Container Terminals to start operations in 2025
The Morning: The new Government has requested that the East Container Terminal (ECT) commence operations by mid-2025, according to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, SLPA Chairman Admiral (Retd) Sirimevan Ranasinghe said: “When we came to the port and had a discussion with the contractors, we were informed that they were seeking a new timeline, where the completed date was scheduled for October-November 2026.
“The SLPA was not happy about this, so the port engineers got together and had several discussions. They are now trying to complete the project as early as possible,” he stated.
Accordingly, steps are now being taken by port engineers together with the contractor to ensure that a significant portion of the project is completed by July 2025 in order to allow around 80% of terminal operations to commence.
The remainder of the project is to be completed by the end of 2025.
Ranasinghe further revealed that the plan was to complete the quay wall by July 2025 so that approximately 80% of the operations could commence.
He further stated that operationalisation of the ECT would increase the capacity of the Colombo Port by an additional 3.2-3.5 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) from its current capacity of around seven million TEUs.
The SLPA Chairman further revealed that the West Container Terminal (WCT) would commence operations by February-March 2025, once construction of the initial 400 m of its proposed 1,400 m quay wall was completed, together with other associated requirements such as storage yards.
Accordingly, with the commencement of operations at the WCT, it will add around 20-30% of its proposed final capacity of 3.5 million TEUs to the Colombo Port.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s target of becoming a maritime hub in the South Asian region has resulted in an expansion in business/investment opportunities in the ports, shipping and logistics sectors. The country’s strategic positioning in the Indian Ocean in close proximity to international maritime lanes and the many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed by the country with many foreign countries have all helped boost Sri Lanka’s maritime industry. It is in such a backdrop that the ECT and WCT would commence operations this year to expand the operational capacity of the Port of Colombo, which is the key port in Sri Lanka. All these are indicative of the increasing business potential in Sri Lanka’s maritime industry and engaging with the industry would therefore bring quick returns on investments to foreign businesses/investors.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20250103/Z_4 |