Construction of Hambantota Phase One is almost complete

Intended to become Sri Lanka’s second largest port after Colombo, Hambantota construction began in 2008 and has been led by Chinese companies. The harbour is being constructed in three phases: the first phase will allow three ships at a time to be moored and two jetties will be built. Each jetty will be 310 m long and deep enough to berth large ships. The depth of the harbour from sea level will be 17 m compared with the deepest point in Colombo harbour of 15.5 m.

At first the harbour will be filled with small quantities of water to allow the public to swim in a once in a lifetime opportunity. After two months, the harbour will be filled with water to the required water level to await the arrival of the first vessel on which the Sri Lankan government plans to export local products including sugar, rubber and milk products.

The Sri Lankan ports authority (SPLA) which will operate the port, has said it plans to set up a subsidiary to hire barges to store and supply bunker fuel until onshore tanks are built.