The Colombo Port and its Terminals

The Port of Colombo is located in an artificial harbour formed by three breakwaters, constructed more than a century ago. The port basin covers 200 hectares and is dredged to depths of up to 15 meters. Access to the harbour is provided on the western and northern sides. The entire perimeter of the harbour is occupied with berths, terminals and vessel related activities. The Port is connected to the national rail network; however, virtually all cargo movements in and out of the port are by road transport. Because of the physical constraints, any growth in the capacity of the existing port is severely limited. Three container terminals at which the majority of container traffic is handled Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) On the eastern side comprise 4 berths totalling 1,292 m, the latest completed in 1996. Depths alongside range from 12 m to 15 m. The berths are served by 6 Super-post Panamax and 8 Panamax gantry cranes, with capacities of 35.5t to 41t SWL serve the berths. The back of berth in width varies between 330 and 380 metres forming a terminal around 45.5 ha. The container yard was a capacity of 9,800 ground slots and is served by 39 RTGs and 4 RMGs. In addition there are 2 feeder berths totalling 352 meters with depths of 8 and 9 meters. The terminal, which is owned and operated by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), is fully selfcontained with its own reefer stacks, offices, workshops, amenities and substations. There are current plans to extend the Southern berth by 120m to better accommodate longer ships increase the yard area by 4 ha. Operations at the Southern Cross berth will be transferred to UCT. Unity Container Terminal (UCT) It is located at the northern end of the harbour. Opened in 2004, it comprises 2 berths for feeder vessels of 340 m with depths alongside of 9 and 11metres. The 340m long quay is served by 3 panamax gantry cranes of 41t SWL. Thirteen RTGs serve two stacking areas with 1,020 ground slots. The terminal is also owned and operated by SLPA as a satellite terminal for JCT.

South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT) The QEQ has been leased for a period of 30 years by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) to the terminal operator South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT) to develop and operate on a BOT basis. The quay has been widened by SAGT to 100m on piles Eastwards in to the harbour basin to accommodate a passenger berth of 250m and three container berths having a total length of 1,005m. The berths have 15m depths and a container terminal area of 22.2 hectares. The container berths have been provided with 9 Super Post Panamax container cranes and the terminal with 27 transfer cranes. It has a dry container stacking capacity of 26,250 TEU and a reefer container stacking capacity of 900 TEU. Cargo handling facilities operated by the SLPA within the harbour include a tanker berth, cement and bulk grainhandling facilities, quays used for vehicle imports, general cargo and military goods, and a passenger/cruise berth at the southern end of SAGT. Port capacity The Port of Colombo had established its position as the dominant transhipment port for the Indian sub-continent by the mid1990s; its success was attributable to several natural advantages:

It is located near the East-West trunk routes between Asia Pacific, Europe and the US East Coast.

It is the closest transhipment port to the huge, rapidly expanding markets of the Indian Sub-Continent.

It has a well-protected deep water harbour.

With these advantages, Colombos container traffic rose from 0.6 million TEU in 1990 to 1.7 million TEU in 1997. After 1997, however, Colombo entered a period of stagnation, with traffic remaining at 1.7 million TEU per annum until 2002. Currently with a capacity of 4.1 million TEUs and a dredged depth of over 15 m (49 ft.), the Colombo Harbour is one of the busiest ports in the world, and ranks among the top 35 ports. It is also one of the biggest artificial harbours in the world handling most of the country's foreign trade. It has an annual cargo tonnage of 30.9 million tons. The port is also the naval base for Sri Lanka Navy Western Fleet under the Commander Western Naval Area (COMWEST). The Port of

Colombo is home to the second tallest building in South Asia and is the centre for many commercial interests.

Port of Hambantota
The Port of Hambantota (also known as the Magampura Port) is a

maritime port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. The first phase of the port was opened on 18 November 2010, with the first ceremonial berthing of the naval ship "Jetliner" to use the port facilities. Hambantota Port is built inland and operated by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. Construction of the port began in January 2008. It will be Sri Lankas largest port, after the Port of Colombo. The Port of Hambantota will service ships traveling along one of world's busiest shipping lines - the east-west shipping route which passes six to ten nautical miles (19 km) south of Hambantota. The first phase of the port project will provide bunkering, ship repair, ship building, and crew changes facilities. Later phases will raise capacity of the port up to 20 million TEUs per year. When completed, the port will be the biggest port constructed on land to date in the 21st century.

Facilities
The first phase of the Port of Hambantota is consist of two 600m general purpose berths, a 310m bunkering berth and a 120m small craft berth. It will also contain a bunkering facility and tank farm which will include 8 tanks for marine fuel, 3 tanks containing aviation fuel and 3 for Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). A 15 floor administrative complex will also be constructed as part of the project. The mouth of the natural harbour at Hambantota has a 22m depth. When completed, the port will have a 1.5 km long breakwater, with a minimum basin depth of 17m. This is compared to the 15.5m depth of the Port of Colombo. The turning circle will be 600m. A dam will also be built to prevent flooding in nearby areas, and a seawall made of interlocking concrete blocks will protect the port from high seas. A $550 million tax-free port zone is being set up outside the port, with local and international companies expressing interest in setting up shipbuilding, ship-repair and warehousing facilities in the zone. It is completed in November 2010. The finished project is providing indirect employment to over 50,000 people.

Second phase construction

Dredging works for the second phase were started immediately. The works were slightly delayed due to the presence of a huge rock near the entrance of the harbour, which was blasted at a cost of about $40m. The second phase is expected to be operational in 2014. Costing $810m, it is also financed by the Export - Import Bank of China. The second phase will be built in three stages. It will include a 2,140m long quay wall to accommodate four 100,000t and two 10,000t wharf berths in the first stage. The second stage will include development of a 50ha offshore artificial island with an elevation of eight metres. Stage three will include construction of a container oil terminal of 300m long and 17m depth, four 100,000DWT container berths, one 100,000DWT oil wharf and two 30,000 DWT feeder berths. About 400,000m of roads and a flyover bridge, a 490,000m harbour basin and a 60ha of yard area with associated yard handling equipment will also be developed. China Communications Construction (CCCC), the parent company of CHEC, was awarded the second phase contract in January 2011.

Importance of this Port

The construction of the Hambantota Port is strategically important to Sri Lanka as the country would be in a position to handle general cargo and the repair work speedily and concentrate

on container handling at the Colombo Port. The ship repair facility between Singapore and Dubai is insufficient and we could give priority for this at the Hambantota Port. This will also avoid unnecessary delays for ships calling at the Colombo Port for repairs. The global downturn affected economies and shipping lines too were affected. However, we are hopeful that the traffic will increase in the near future as certain segments are already showing an improvement

Traffic Handled
The port occupies an area of 4,000 acres (16km) and will be the largest of its kind in South Asia. It is having a capacity to accommodate 33 vessels at time. When fully operational, it will be the world's largest port built on land and will handle about 20 million TEUs a year. It will also be the second largest port operated by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority in the country (after the Port of Colombo). The new port is being built to reduce the traffic at the Port of Colombo, which alone handles 6,000 ships a year. Hambantota is close to the Asian and European international shipping routes - the Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca. These routes through Hambantota are used by about 36,000 ships, including 4,500 oil tankers. The port saves about three days of sailing time and fuel. It also offers advantages of ship repair, bunkering, food, medical and water supplies, plus logistics support

Hambantota Port