During the official visit of His
Excellency the President Mahinda
Rajapaksa, to China in 2007, to
commemorate the 50th Anniversary
of bilateral relations between
the People's Republic of China
and the Sri Lanka, special
negotiations were conducted with
the Chinese President His
Excellency Hu Jintao with a view
to obtaining financial
assistance to construct
Hambantota Harbour. The Chinese
Government agreed to provide 85%
of the estimated cost of 360
million US$ for the construction
of Hambantota Harbour, under a
special loan scheme.
Subsequently, the Signing of
Financial Agreement for the
Hambantota Port Development
Project was held on the 30th
October 2007, at the Temple
Trees under the patronage of His
Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa,
the President Sri Lanka. The
constructions commenced on the
15th of January
2008.
The feasibility study for the
construction of Magam Ruhunupura
Port was carried out by M/s. SNC
Lavolis Canadian International
Company and the basic designs
were prepared by the Denmark
Rambol Company in the year 2005.
Under Stage - I, the West
Breakwater of 988 m, the East
Breakwater of 312 m, a ships
terminal of 600m, a service
terminal of 105 m, an
oil terminal of 610 m, a ships
turning circle of 600 m were
constructed with a basin draught
of 17 m, and a Port Access Canal
having a width of 210 m and a
draught of 17m. The deepened
land area in stage I -is 43 ha.
enabling to facilitate 100,000
DWT capacity ships.
Meanwhile, the construction of a
Fuel Terminal at the Port was
commenced on the 07th October
2009 by the China Huanqiu
Contracting and Engineering
Corporation with a cost of US $
76 million. Under the project 14
tank farms are being constructed
with a full capacity of 80,000
m3. Among them, 08
tanks will be dedicated for
ships oil while 03 for aircraft
oil and another three for
L.P.gas. The Administrative
Building at the site commenced
constructions on 07.10.2009 and
the constructions are being
carried out by the same China
Harbour Engineering and Syno
Hydro Co-operation joint
venture. The building consists
of 15 stories including a total
a total floor area of 100,000
sq. ft. and with a height of
200 ft.
As the Port of Magam Ruhunupura
was developed as an
environmentally-friendly Port
from the initial stages, there
have not been any environmental
issues which many development
projects may have to undergo.
The Garden Port concept which
many countries follow is
utilized to join the complex
mechanism process and the
environment, and it creates a
conducive climate for
employees.
With the completion of stage
one of the project, 'Karadiyawara
Mangalaya', the Sea water
filling Ceremony of Magam
Ruhunupura Port took place on
the 15th August 2010 under the
supervision of the Chairman of
Sri Lanka Ports Authority Dr.
Priyath B. Wickrama on the
instructions of Hon. Chamal
Rajapaksa the present Speaker
and the M.P. for Hambantota
District and under the guidance
of His Excellency the President
Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Turning a new chapter in the
country's socio-economic
development, the first stage of
the Magam Ruhunupura Mahinda
Rajapaksa Port was commissioned
by His Excellency the President
Mahinda Rajapaksa on 18th
November 2010 with the arrival
of the vessel 'Jet-Liner'
followed by a sailing ship and a
cargo ship the m.v."Seruwila”
symbolizing the commencement of
commercial operations in the
Magam Ruhunupura Mahinda
Rajapaksa Port in Hambantota.
Following the commissioning, the
Mahinda Rajapaksa Port in Magam
Ruhunupura also received ISPS
Certification as per the IMO
recommendation and the UN
Locator Code ‘LKHBA’ has also
been allocated. Despite several
misleading reports published in
few print media on the port's
inability to accommodate
vessels, the above
certifications assured the port
as an eligible and a safe port
for operations.
As the infrastructure and other
facilities being constructed at
the port for efficient
operations are nearing
completion rapidly, the first
Large container vessel called
at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Port,
on the 28th of April 2011 for
the Harbour Pilots to
familiarize themselves with
maneuvering vessels into and out
of the Port. This Mega Container
vessel “Wan Hai 502” owned by
M/s Wan Hai Lines (Pte) Ltd., of
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, having a
length of 260 meters and heavily
laden with containers and
drawing a draught of 12.0 meters
was on its voyage from Port
Kelang Malaysia to Colombo when
it stopped over at Magam
Ruhunupura. In the days ahead,
several more vessels of
different capacities and
draughts belonging to reputed
international shipping lines are
due to arrive at the port to
enable Harbour Pilots to
familiarize themselves.
Meanwhile, the project committee appointed for the
consideration of the request of
the investors who are interested
for the investments in Magam
Ruhunupura Port premises issued
63 applications locally and
internationally and 27 investors
submitted their proposals for
the investments. More than
2000hectares of lands adjoining
the harbour will be declared as
a special economic and
industrial zone to boost
industrial and commercial
activities. Out of the 27
investors who expressed interest
to commence projects, six
investors had bid for cement
industry while two had expressed
for vehicle assembling and
another two for gas. The Project
Committee received proposals
from three investors for
warehousing, two for petro-chemicals
and one each for sugar refinery,
fertilizer and canning.
Meanwhile other proposals have
also been brought out to
commence various relevant
industries of importance and all
investors have been identified
as reputed and leading business
ventures and entrepreneurs in
and out of the country.
Since the inception of
container operations at the Port
of Colombo, it took about 20
years to handle a capacity of 2
million TEUs. Hence, in the year
2004, the Port of Colombo
handled 2 million TEUs of
containers which has grown to 4
million TEUs by 2010. The total
is expected to be 10 million
TEUs by 2020, when the port will
generate 40% of the Government
income. Last year, the
state-run JCT of SLPA also
single-handedly reached a
historic record throughput of 2
million TEUs in eleven months.
The above fact clearly shows the
length of time factor that is
needed by any project or
programme in order to emerge as
a reliable and strong economic
venture. Accordingly, with the
time being managed efficiently
and correctly with the correct
development strategies, Mahinda
Rjapaksa Port in Magam
Ruhunupura will definitely
emerge as a port that not only
feeds the national economy at
large, but also as the most
important regional port situated
in the closest proximity to the
international shipping route.
(CPRD-28042011) |