Sri Lanka Ports Authority commissions Colombo Ports East Container Terminal after several years
The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has reportedly commissioned the much-delayed East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo Port on Tuesday (27), which has figured in geopolitics in the Indian Ocean among other controversies.
According to reports, the MSC Emma, which belongs to the world’s second-largest shipping line in terms of container vessel capacity, was the first ship to be served at the ECT on Tuesday.
As part of the expansion of South Asia’s hub port, the SLPA built the breakwater for ECT and subsequently it was to be developed as public private partnership and multiple models were explored by successive governments in the recent past and ECT came up for competitive bidding as well, the Daily FT has reported.
A joint venture consortium involving companies from India and Japan were shortlisted, after it was communicated that a party with Indian ownership is preferred to manage a terminal in Colombo, as the most modern facility CICT is owned and operated by a majority China-owned corporation, the report noted.
China manages the Hambantota port.
The local media report stated that the other reason for the India-Japan-Sri Lanka model was the fact that 75% of Colombo port’s transshipment business is to and from India.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean and the prominence given to the island in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have increased the business/investment opportunities in the island’s ports, shipping and maritime sectors. The trade agreements with other countries enjoyed by Sri Lanka have added to the island’s attraction as a trade destination. Given all these, Sri Lanka’s maritime industry is fast becoming a hotspot for business/investment opportunities in the country.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/03112020/Z_2 |