Sri Lanka informed on August 30 that it has started a massive development project in order to further modernize its ports across the country. This aims to transform Sri Lanka into a maritime hub in the region.
According to Xinhua news agency, Sri Lanka’s government information department announced that as part of this mega development project, the Port of Colombo will continue to develop its facilities for container handling by continuously adding capacity, enhancing handling and processing technology.
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In addition, as Sirimevan Ranasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Ports and Shipping and Western Development, stated, the development of the East Container Terminal (ECT) will be followed by the development of the West Container Terminal (WCT 1 and 2).
Moreover, the ECT and the South Asia Gateway Terminal will be expanded, in order to create an ultra large container terminal. This terminal will expand the total capacity to 35 million TEUs in the future.
As for 2018, the Port of Colombo handled a record breaking seven million TEUs.
Now, from the six main ports in Sri Lanka, Port of Colombo, Hambantota Port in the south and Trincomalee Port in the east, have become the focal point for future development, in relation to international shipping and logistics.
Mr. Ranasinghe added that Port of Colombo’s location, enables it to provide several port services, maritime services, integrated logistics and even port related industries, like light, general or heavy industries, as well as community development.
