HAMBANTHOTA PORT
THIS IS THE FIST OF EVER PORT BUILT BY EXCAVATING LAND AND FILLING WITH WATER.1700 HECTARES 12 MILLION CUBIC METERS OF WATER.
The Port of Hambantota is a maritime port currently under
construction in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. The first phase of
the port is schedule to open in November 2010.The port will
be operated by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.
Construction of the port began in January 2008. Upon
completion, it will be Sri Lanka’s second largest port,
after the Port of Colombo. The Port of Hambantota will
service ships travelling along the east west shipping route
which passes six to ten nautical miles 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.
The construction work of the first phase of the Hambanthota
Port project is almost complete.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Ports and Aviation Ranjith
Silva said that the filling of water to the harbour basin
will be launched under the patronage of President Mahinda
Rajapaksa on August 15.
He said that the first vessel is scheduled to sail in to
the port in November.
Hambanthota is Sri Lanka's second largest harbor beside
the International Port in Colombo and it was constructed
inland close to a major shipping route six to ten nautical
miles south of Hambantota.
The port will be operated by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.
The Secretary also said the first phase of the port project
will provide bunkering, ship repair, ship building, and
crew changes facilities.
Three ships can be harboured into the port in the first
stage and the first ship is to anchor there in November, he
added.
He further said the Harbour, being built at a cost of US $
437 million for the first phase is a joint venture between
China Harbor Engineering and Syno Hydro Corporation. The
Government of China is to provide 85% of financial
assistance.
The Secretary invited the public to use this opportunity.
He said the public are permitted to visit the Hambantota
Harbour before it is being filled with water.
The Public will also be able to visit the bottom of the
harbour.
Special arrangements are being made to facilitate the
visitors.
The first phase of the Hambantota harbour construction will
be completed by August this year and it will be followed by
the process of filling the harbour with sea water and the
construction will cost US $360 million, the Minister of
Ports and Aviation Chamal Rajapaksa said.
The Ports and Aviation Ministry has scheduled to bring the
first ship into the harbour by November.The Ministry has
planned to export local products including sugar,rubber and
milk products by the first ship leaving the Hambantota
Port, Minister Rajapaksa added.
At first the harbour will be filled with small quantities
of water to allow the public to wallow and enjoy in the
water as this is an opportunity once in a lifetime. After
two months the harbour will be filled with water up to the
required water level and the first ship will be navigated
in, the Minister said.
The harbour is being constructed in three phases, the first
phase is to moor three ships at a time and the construction
of two jetties.Each jetty will be 310 metres long and deep
enough to berth large ships. The depth of the harbour from
the sea level is 17 metres. The deepest point in the
Colombo harbour is said to be 15.5 metres.
History
A port was first known to be operational in the general
area of Hambantota around 250 BCE, when Chinese and Arabian
merchants used it as part of the maritime silk route.
Around the 1st century CE, a furnace powered by monsoon
winds was built near Embilipitiya, which used wind based
air supply to produce high carbon steel. This steel was
exported to Rome and other European areas for the
manufacture of armor and swords, with ships sailing to a
port in Hambantota to obtain to steel.
Hambantota is located along the southern coast of Sri
Lanka, six miles away from east-west shipping routes
Location
Sri Lanka is situated along the key shipping route between
the Malacca Straits and the Suez Canal, which links Asia
and Europe. An estimated 36,000 ships, including 4,500 oil
tankers, use the route annually. However the only major
port in Sri Lanka, the Port of Colombo is catered towards
container handling and is unable to provide facilities for
port related industries and services. Therefore a new
port was proposed near the city of Hambantota, which has a
natural harbor and is located on the southern tip of Sri
Lanka close to international shipping routes.
A new port will help relieve pressure on the Colombo port,
and also provide services to ships that normally take
three-and-a-half day detours from their shipping lanes to
receive these services, including refueling, maintenance,
logistics and buying provisions and medical supplies
Proposals to build a port in Hambantota date back over
three decades, but plans never got out of conceptual
stages. The Port of Hambantota project was finally
launched after Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is a native of
Hambantota, was elected President of Sri Lanka in 2005.
Facilities
The first phase of the Port of Hambantota will 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 harbor 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.[4] 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 expected to be
completed by November 2010.
The finished project is expected to provide indirect
employment to over 50,000 people.
Construction
The Hambantota Port is being constructed by the Chinese
companies China Harbour Engineering Company and Sinohydro
Corporation.[4] The total cost of the first phase of the
project is estimated at $360 million, including $76.5
million for the bunker terminal. 85% of the funding is
provided by the Chinese Government and the remaining 15% by
the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.
Initially set to open in the first half of 2011, the
project is currently five months ahead of schedule, and is
scheduled to be completed by November 2010. The first ship
is scheduled to anchor at the port in December.
Future plans
The $600 million second phase of the Port of Hambantota
project, which will include a container terminal, will be
completed by 2014. The third phase will include a
dockyard.[5] Upon completion, the port will cover 4,000
acres of land and accommodate 33 vessels at any given time,
making it the largest port in South Asia.
Overall Hambantota development project
The construction of the Port of Hambantota is part of a
larger development project centered around the Hambantota
District. Apart of the port, the project consists of the
construction of an international airport, a highway, a
railway, an oil refinery and related facilities. The new
airport will initially handle cargo related to the port,
with plans for later expansion. Related to the project, a
500-acre Safari Park is being constructed in
Ridiyagama,Ambalantota scheduled to be open in 2011. An
international cricket stadium is also under construction in
the area, and will host 2 fixtures at the upcoming 2011
World Cup.
The projects have resulted in Hambantota, one of the
underprivileged districts in Sri Lanka, becoming the
fastest developing region in the island.
Hambanthota port is to use solar and wind power
A new port being built in Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka
will use renewable energy for some of its power
requirements, Sri Lanka Ports Authority chairman Priyath
Wickrama said. “This is going to be green port,” he said.
“We’re going to use solar-power for all street lighting. It
will be an environmentally-friendly port.”
Wickrama said the SLPA was also studying the potential for
using wind power for some of the port’s other power needs.
Already a few wind-power turbines are operating on a trial
basis next to the port.
Wickrama also said construction work on Hambantota Port, at
the southern tip of the island, near the main East-West
trade route, is ahead of schedule with the first phase
expected to be over by October 2010.
That will allow the port to handle general cargo vessels as
well as supply bunker fuel for vessels. Wickrama said the
port and the new Hambantota city next to it will be built
in a well-planned manner to avoid the problems created by
unplanned development and illegal construction in Colombo.
Provision will be made at the design stage itself for
renewable energy supply and environmentally-friendly use of
resources and waste disposal. “We plan to generate
electricity from waste as well,” Wickrama said in a
presentation on the progress of construction work and
business opportunities available once the port is built at
a seminar organised by the Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council.
Wickrama said enough water supply was available now for the
port and an adjacent airport project in Hambantota, which
is in the dry zone and suffers from water shortages. “In
future, we plan to set up a desalination plant for water
for port users,” he said.
The Sri Lankan port of Hambantota will be opening its doors
to foreign investors.
All sectors, except bunkering, will be available for
foreign investors to develop, according to Sri Lanka Ports
Authority (SLPA) Chairman Priyath Wickrama.
“We will handle oil bunkering. We don’t want to give it
outside,” Wickrama told Reuters.
“But bulk cargo handling, storage facility, warehouses,
transshipment and all others are open for investments.”
Wickrama said the Hambantota port project has received
interest from about 30 investors.
These include major shipping lines and companies from
countries such as India, Singapore, Russia, the Middle
East, Australia and China.
The Chinese government has funded 85% of the total $76.5
million development cost to build the bunkering terminal at
Hambantota port, with the remaining 15% coming from SLPA.
Construction for the entire port has been led by Chinese
companies since 2008.
According to the spokesman, SPLA is currently in talks with
China to request an additional $800 million loan for the
second phase of the project.
Reuters reported that Wickrama declined to specify if China
would be a potential operator of Hambantota’s bunkering
facility.
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