Sri Lankan government to purchase state of the art cranes for ECT at Colombo Port
Sri Lanka’s Government Information Department has reportedly announced that the Cabinet of Ministers has this week approved the procuring of cranes for a new state-owned container terminal in the Colombo Port – the East Container Terminal (ECT) – that will be operated as a joint venture involving Japan and India.
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Ports and Shipping has received Cabinet approval to buy six ship-to-shore gantry cranes and 18 electric-powered rubber-tired gantry cranes for use in the container yard.
The commissioning of equipment for the ECT of the Colombo South Port has reportedly been delayed for several years despite warnings that the harbour was nearing capacity and needed to expand, local media reports state.
The government of Sri Lanka has reached a deal with Japan and India to operate the ECT in a consortium with Sri Lanka retaining majority control of the facility, reports further noted.
Accordingly, Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) would retain 100 percent ownership of the ECT and 51 percent of the consortium with the rest being held by Japanese and Indian partners.
OSL take:
The government of Sri Lanka is engaged in a development drive covering all parts of the country as well as all economic sectors. Special attention has been paid to the development of Sri Lanka’s ports and shipping sector. Given Sri Lanka’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean and the location of key ports in close proximity to international shipping routes, Sri Lanka could easily achieve hub status in the region. This has resulted in many development programmes targeting the country’s ports and shipping sector. The ECT at the Colombo Port is to be developed under a joint venture with India and Japan and the purchase of new state of the art cranes is part of the programme. All these are indicative of the expanding business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s ports and shipping sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/25072019/Z_5 |