Construction of Colombo South Terminal to start in December

Part of the Colombo Port expansion project, the initial Built Own Transfer (BOT) agreement for the first terminal was signed this August; it will be one of the largest Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in Sri Lanka.

Early construction work of the US$500m project will see the first 600 metre of terminal operational by early 2014 with a capacity of an estimated 2.4m teu. The port will be developed in three stages, each adding another 2.4m teu, increasing the existing capacity of 4.5m teu up to 13.0m teu when the entire terminal is completed by 2016. The project has been identified by the government as the flagship development, targeted at giving Colombo a competitive edge over other regional ports.

Built in stages, Phase 1 will create three terminals of over 1,200 m in length, each with four 18 m deep berths, with provision to deepen to 23 m to accommodate deeper draft vessels in the future. When completed, the South Container Terminal will provide a harbour basin of 18 m depth capable of accommodating the modern mega-container ships.