A new sea port, Hambantota at the southern end of Sri Lanka is being developed at a cost of one billion US$ by China. The Exim Bank of China is funding this project. The entire project is expected to be completed in 15 years in four phases. The first phase costing closer to $450 million.The port will be capable of handling 20 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year with 11 kilometres (km) of berths.The project includes
- A ship repair unit
- A container repair unit
- An oil refinery
- A bunkering terminal.
Work on the bunkering terminal is expected to start before December 2007, and is expected to be completed in 39 months. The plan caters for the terminal to handle up to 500,000 metric tonnes (mt) of oil products a year. Depending on the requirement the terminal can be further expanded up to
one million mt.
Why Chinese interest ?
China is increasingly depending on oi
l import from middle east countries. The sea route for oil imports as shown in the map below is of great importance to China and China wants to have a control over this sea route. Sri Lanka, situated in the Indian Ocean is closer to the Marlaca Strait and has a strategic location for the protection of the oil route. Hambantota is located at the southern end of Sri Lanka.
Some photographs of the project:
On 31 October 2007, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Hambantota Port Development Project site on an inspection tour. President addressed the gathering and greeted the Chinese engineers who are involved in the construction. President gave the signal to start the work at the site. Ministers Chamal Rajapaksa, Dinesh Gunawardena and Chinese Ambassador Ye Tabo were also present at the occasion.
Post a Comment