Developments at the Magam-Ruhunupura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port
Monday, 20 January 2014 00:00
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Located in close proximity to the main shipping lanes from east to west, the Magam-Ruhunupura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port is being developed as a modern port catering to international service, industrial and container handling among others. Wickrama gave a quick update on the present state of the port as well as plans for the future.
Bunkering facilities
Currently, the storage of bunker belts is ready and bunkering services will begin in Hambantota soon, Wickrama said. “We have tested the tank farm and we are now negotiating with the bunker supplier. We have a government-to-government facility to get bunker fuel. We are trying to promote Hambantota as the bunkering hub of the region.”
Container terminal
Construction of Phase II of the port, which includes a container terminal will facilitate port users to bring their cargo either in bulk, great bulk or containerised form.
The container terminal in Hambantota is primarily for the free zone in the region. “If we do not have a container handling terminal in Hambantota we might not be able to promote this free zone in Hambantota,” Wickrama said. “We hope to get over 300,000-500,000 containers annually in the first five to seven years, after which it will grow up to three million within the next 10 years.”
Proposed dockyard
The proposed dockyard will be capable of accommodating the largest vessel which will ensure Hambantota becoming a service providing centre for ships. “SLPA has allocated a special area for them to have officers and stores, so that they can easily promote that among the shipping community, and we can get a lot of foreign exchange in Sri Lanka. It is a small business, but will definitely create enough revenue for the port of Hambantota.”
To further facilitate this, a road network connecting the airport, industrial zones and sea port has also been made. There are two additional free zones under BOI close to the port. “We will create a good road network within the zones.”
LNG terminal
In the space available in close proximity to the port, a LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal will be constructed to serve the future needs of Sri Lanka, Wickrama revealed. This will be the first LNG handling terminal in Hambantota. “There will be a LNG power plant, and in the future we hope to do LNG bunkering as well. We will be one of the few ports in the world offering these facilities.”
There is also a project to connect this LNG terminal to Colombo via the Southern Expressway. Through this, “you might be able to get LNG for your vehicles as well.”
Car carriers
He added that they have already constructed 12 hectares of terminal to handle car carriers in Hambantota.
“In 2009 we only had 1,000 transhipment vehicles in Sri Lanka. Last year this was up to 65,000 transhipment vehicles. We will add more space and have over 40 hectares of Ro-Ro yachts in Hambantota – this is likely to be the largest facility in Asia.” There are seven shipping lines calling on Hambantota as transhipment of their Ro-Ro vessels at the moment.
“They have given commitment to reach one million vehicles (only for transhipment) by 2020.”
Wickrama explained: “We did not shift domestic vehicle operations from Colombo to Hambantota to get volume, but during that time vehicle carrying vessels stayed close to 14 days outside the port to unload due to the congestion in Colombo. At Hambantota there are no delays. There are lot of benefits.”
