HIPG attracts first drillship to Hambantota International Port

Monday, 10 December 2018 03:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Breakthrough following efforts to introduce new businesses that would encourage and develop downstream marine-related ancillary services at the Port
The drill ship will be at the Port for a minimum of six months; provides various opportunities for multiple disciplines in Lankan maritime service sector and offer significant trickledown socio-economic benefit to local community

Hambantota International Port marked another first, coinciding with their first anniversary celebrations yesterday, when the drill ship Aban Abraham berthed at the Port.

The birthday call by the ship was the first of its kind for the Port and proof of Hambantota International Port Group’s (HIPG) success in pursuing new and diverse business opportunities for the fully equipped modernised Port.

HIPG saw this business as a good entry point for the Hambantota International Port to be placed on the international map of ports, providing multiple disciplinary services for lay-up vessels. The company had to compete aggressively in the international market to make the breakthrough which came after months of hard work by ‘team HIPG’ closely supported by CMPORT.

A spokesman for HIPG said that this was the first time that Sri Lanka was offering such services, “therefore, we had to leverage heavily on the global marine network access of CMPORT to make this happen”.

The HIPG team also worked closely with the local agent and acknowledges the cooperation of Hayleys Energy Services. “The owners had to be convinced that we could offer international standard services at the Hambantota International Port under the management of HIPG. It should be noted that there are well-established ports in the region that are currently providing such services and have been doing so for many years. Therefore, the local shipping industry considers this as a major breakthrough in diversifying the traditional shipping activities and enabling Sri Lanka to maximise from its strategic location,” the spokesperson added.

HIPG was focused on introducing new businesses that would encourage and develop downstream marine-related ancillary services at the Port. The drill ship, which will be at the Port for a minimum of six months will also provide various opportunities for multiple disciplines in the Sri Lankan maritime service sector. In addition to providing some of the basic services, such as ship chandling and supply of ship stores, etc., marine engineering service providers will have a huge opportunity for new business. Since a wide spectrum of engineering and specialised technical services need to be provided, it is expected that foreign technical experts would be visiting Sri Lanka to provide these services along with their local counterparts.

The management of HIPG is confident that the new business introduced to the Hambantota International Port will have a significant trickledown effect on the local community, improving their economy through the multitude of support services that will need to be provided for this vessel.