Colombo, Jan 12 (UNI) Construction of Sri Lanka’s West Container Terminal (WCT), being developed by India’s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), is scheduled to commence in February this year, a Sri Lankan Minister has said.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) signed the build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement in September last year to develop and operate the West Container Terminal with its local partner John Keells Holdings (JKH) and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), with an investment of US$ 700 million.
Minister of Ports & Shipping Rohitha Abeygunawardena announced that the construction of West Container Terminal (WCT) is scheduled to commence in February this year.
With the WCT coming into operation as the third deep-water terminal, the Port of Colombo’s capacity is set to increase by another 3.5 million TEUs.
India’s Adani Group had in Septemb
er sealed a deal with state-owned Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) to develop and run the strategic Colombo Port’s Western Container Terminal.
As the first-ever Indian port operator in Sri Lanka, Adani Group will have a 51 per cent stake at the port’s Western Container Terminal (WCT.)
The Colombo Port is one of the most preferred regional hubs for transhipment of Indian containers and mainline ship operators with 45 per cent of Colombo’s transhipment volumes originating from or destined to an Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) terminal in India.
APSEZ is the largest port developer and operator in India and represents 24 per cent of the country’s total port capacity.
In addition, the SLPA also plans to develop Colombo North Port, to the north of Port of Colombo, spreading from the Kelani River in the Modara area, up to the
existing northern breakwater of the Colombo Port.
The SLPA in 2020 sign an agreement with AECOM Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited to conduct a feasibility study for this.
Minister Abeygunawardena noted that the government plans to complete the construction of Colombo North Port by end of 2035 adding another three terminals and increasing the capacity of Port of Colombo to 30-35 million TEUs and possibly placing the Port of Colombo among top five ports in the world.
“Sri Lanka is in an ideal place to become the hub of South-East Asia, being the feeder nerve centre for South East Asia. No shipping line will deviate from the East-West route due to various operational costs and shipping costs. We are now getting on to the correct track,” SLPA Chairman Capt. Nihal Keppetipola said.
The comments came as work on the East Container Terminal, that has been given to China, commenced today.
The ECT would have a 1,320 meter quay wall and spanning across 75 hectares. It will be ready to commence full operations from July 2024 onwards.
At a total cost of US$ 520 million, the construction of the ECT is scheduled to be concluded in two phases. Phase one is scheduled to be ready for operations on July 7, 2023 with a 600 metre quay wall.
With a 420 metre quay wall built with US$ 100 million investment, SLPA is currently operating the ECT using the cranes ordered for Jaya Container Terminal (JCT)-5.
Last November, Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. Ltd, a unit of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), won the contract to supply 12 ship-to-shore cranes and 40 automated rail mounted gantry cranes for the ECT.
The cost of the required equipment for the terminal is estimated at US$ 300 million.
The civil construction work of the ECT was awarded to a joint venture between Access Engineering PLC (AEL) and China Harbour Engineering, another unit of CCC.
The cost of civil construction is estimated at US$ 200 million, which is to be directly financed with SLPA funds.
In addition, US$ 20 million will be invested in a terminal operation system.
In the first phase, 6 ship-to-shore cranes and 20 rail-mounted gantry (RMG) cranes will be installed at the Eastern Terminal.
Once completed, the terminal will consist of 12 giant cranes and 40 normal cranes.
Once the ECT becomes fully operational in 2024, Minister Abeygunawardena highlighted that Port of Colombo’s capacity will be increased to handle 10.5 million TEUs from the current seven million TEUs, becoming the 13th busiest container port in the world.
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