CICT attracts first 12,000 TEU mega-carrier container vessel to Port of Colombo
Monday, 12 August 2013 00:00
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Colombo International Container Terminals, the first deep-water terminal in the whole of South Asia with the capacity to handle the largest container vessels afloat, created history in the Port of Colombo when they handled the 12,000 TEU vessel CMA-CGM PEGASUS at their terminal last Monday. CICT is owned and managed by China Merchants Holdings International with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority also holding a minority stake.
The 12,000 TEU CMA-CGM PEGASUS berthed alongside the brand new CICT berth at 0530 hours on Monday morning (5 August) laden with 10,000 containers. Since the ship was almost fully loaded, it only had space to handle 2,000 plus container moves in Colombo. This maiden call by the mega container carrier coincided with the ceremonial opening of the CICT container terminal by Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka, in whose presence the first container was loaded.
The Port of Colombo is listed among the top 30 container ports in the world, based on volumes handled during the last few years. With CICT being the only deep-water facility with the largest ship-to-shore cranes in the whole of South Asia, Colombo is now well poised to take a higher position in the global rankings.
CICT’s name gained attention in the regional maritime industry recently, when they cut down the terminal construction period from 60 months to 28 months and commenced commercial operations on 1 July this year, well ahead of schedule. The port industry is generally known for completing projects behind schedule, and this Greenfield project in the Port of Colombo, developed by China Merchants Holdings International Ltd., has set a new benchmark for other infrastructure projects in the country.
The owning company of CICT, China Merchants Holdings International (CMHI), is a Hang Seng indexed, listed company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The investment in CICT by CMHI is so far their largest foreign direct investment in the maritime sector. CMHI is the largest public port operator in China and handled a throughput of 60 million TEUs during 2012.
They are now in the process of expanding their footprint in the global container terminal industry and are investing in many ports and container terminals to make their mark as a global terminal operator. Their presence is now visible in many high growth areas with the Port of Colombo being their first Greenfield project.
The Port of Colombo stands to gain very much from the global network of CMHI by drawing on synergies among ports that are being managed and controlled by them. The fact that CMHI was successful in bringing in the first laden mega carrier container vessel into CICT within the first month of commencing operations augurs well for the Port of Colombo. This event will certainly attract the attention of all the shipping lines that operate mega-carriers and have such ships on order.
CICT General Manager Tissa Wickramasinghe said that the new terminal under CMHI management attracted the presence of the top management of most of the first 15 largest container carriers in the world, to witness the ceremonial commencement of operations of this only deepwater terminal in South Asia.
CICT is the focus of attention of these big-league players in the container shipping liner industry and is by itself a significant boost to the image of the Port of Colombo. This is a record for Sri Lanka and the Port of Colombo and it was an endorsement of the global networking strength of the CMHI group.
Furthermore, the presence of these large container shipping line representatives was complemented with the presence of all the overseas representatives of feeder vessels operating in Colombo. The feeder operators form the backbone of a successful hub and spoke operation, and with Colombo vying to be the regional maritime hub, these are all very positive signs. CICT is very much encouraged by these developments and is looking forward to see new transhipment volumes moving over Colombo.
