HAMBANTOTA, SRI LANKA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Hambantota Port, located in the south of Sri Lanka, is embracing a giant yellow ship, which, capable of withstanding hurricanes and other extreme weather conditions on the sea, has never been anchored in the harbour before.
Providing emergency salvage and accommodation services, the vessel named Edda Accommodation will stay in the Hambantota Port for 3 months, indicating, as port chief operating officer Tissa Wickramasinghe said the recent development of the port has been recognized by the port industry of the world.
-- New look of Hambantota Port
Sitting in the southern coast of the South Asia-located island country, Hambantota Port is only 10 nautical miles from the busy shipping routes on the Indian Ocean, the only route for freighters traveling to and from Asia, Europe and Africa and is an important junction along the Belt and Road.
However, development of the Hambantota Port was delayed for quite a long time, once plagued by the civil war for more than 20 years and then due to lack of funds, technology and experience for port development and operation.
The dilemma persisted until China Merchants Port Holdings Company (CMPort, 00144.HK), subsidiary of leading Chinese transportation and infrastructure giant - China Merchants Group (CMG) undertook the operation of the Hambantota Port in December last year.
Thanks to CMG’s global business networks, new technologies and resources, Hambantota Port is linked up with other ports and potential clients worldwide. By launching an advanced business management system, efficiency of the port has been greatly improved.
At the wharf of the port, a heavy roll-on/roll-off (RO-RO) ship was unloading. Automobiles from China, the Republic of Korea and Japan came out of the cabin and lined up in the yard by local employees skilled at driving.
Nowadays, the Hambantota Port, via matchmaking by CMG, has undertaken part of the RO-RO shipping of automobiles from Singapore. Apart from this, it also started the bulk cargo business and gradually stepped into the oil & gas business, thereby doubling its business volume.
-- A promising shipping hub in South Asia
Hambantota Port is a comprehensive deep-water port in Sri Lanka. On July 29, 2017, CMPort entered into a 99 years concession agreement of Hambantota project with Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and Sri Lanka government.
According to CMPort, the Hambantota Port project is a project to develop a major industrial and service port with an attached industrial zone in the port of Hambantota, expected to comprise of three phases.
With 10 berths planned in phase 1 and 2, and quay length of up to 3,487 meters, the berths are specialized to handle containers, bulk cargos, general cargos, RO-RO cargos and liquid bulk. Water depth alongside the quay and navigation channels is 17 meters, making Hambantota Port a deep-water port capable of handling super-mega vessels.
The phase 1 project completed in December 2011 has been put into operation since June 2012. The phase 2 project was completed in April 2015.
Hambantota Port is the second project CMPort invested in Sri Lanka after the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), which has already become a symbolic project for Sino-Sri Lanka cooperation. Relying on CMPort’s global port networks, container throughput of CICT has been significantly enhanced.
Now, helper effect between Hambantota Port and CICT is highly expectable and is anticipated to unlock Sri Lanka’s potential as a global maritime center. In the future, the Hambantota Port has great potential for expansion and with its hinterland covering the South Asian region, is likely to become a maritime hub in the region.
On the top floor of the sail boat-shaped port office building, three pictures are displayed in the hall, showing to visitors the prospects of Hambantota.
Two of them depict the planning of the port and the port-centered industrial zone. In the third picture, Hambantota Port is placed in the center of the global supply chain, serving as the intermediate node of many routes linking up East Asia, South Asia, Australia, Africa, and Europe.
Wickramasinghe anticipated that as long as its geological advantages are leveraged, Hambantota Port will become a key node in the global supply chain to serve the South Asia market of 1.7 billion people.
As Wickramasinghe said, the port-centered industrial park will further increase added value of goods and commercial and financial businesses will be attracted as the port and the port-centered industrial park flourish. Moreover, the economic development of the port will benefit the whole Hambantota area and help the impoverished residents in south Sri Lanka shake off poverty.
-- Hambantota Port, hope of hometown
Ranaja, a young man growing up at the seaside of Hambantota, is now working at the Hambantota Port. Every day when looking at the blue quay crane at the port, he knows where the future of his hometown is.
The locals are inspired by the development of the port. "We work here not only because of the short commute and good salary, but also our hopes to develop the port. The port is the hope of our hometown, "Ranaja said.
For many local residents, Hambantota port is a symbol of future, apart from being a landmark in Hambantota.
Renowned as the pearl on the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka has been an important pivot along the ancient maritime Silk Road connecting the east and the west for hundreds of years.
Having witnessed the rises and falls of the maritime Silk Road, Sri Lankans know well that shipping and trade can bring great benefit. They believe the rise of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road provides an opportunity for Sri Lanka's rejuvenation.
When talking about the future of Hambantota, Yuri Kannangara, deputy general manager of the port’s operation department, vowed "it will undoubtedly become the largest port and the most prosperous city in Sri Lanka." (By Duan Jing & Wu Shuang, duanjing@xinhua.org)
A single purchase
