Annual Report 2010 - Ministry of Finance and Planning

Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka > Annual Report 2010TEUs ('000)Chart 1.30 > Port Performance in Container Handling andTransshipments4500400035003000250020001500100050002006 2007 2008 2009 2010Container Handled TransshipmentsSource: Central Bank of Sri LankaMinistry of Ports and AviationAlthough thetotal number ofvessel arrivalshas decreasedby 11 percent in2010 comparedto 4,592 arrivedin 2009, thetotal TwentyfootEquivalentUnits (TEUs)handled hasincreased...Ports – Towards a Naval HubPorts and shipping plays a significantrole in the economic development inSri Lanka. The strategic geographicallocation of Sri Lanka for trade,transport and transshipment activitiescreate a great potential to consolidateits position as a naval and aviation hubof Asia.The government policy for the portssector is to ensure adequate portsinfrastructure facilities and servicesavailable to facilitate increasing exportand import trade.Towards accelerating activities inthe port infrastructure development,several mega port developmentprojects have already been launchedduring the 2006-2010 period includingthe Colombo South Harbour Project(Rs. 85,910 million), HambantotaPort Development Project (Rs. 42,212million), Oluvil Port DevelopmentProject (Rs. 6,188 million) and GalleTourist Port Development Project(Rs. 16,912 million). An investment ofaround Rs. 27 billion was made in 2010for these projects.The first phase of the Hambantota PortDevelopment Project was completedin November 2010, five monthsahead of the scheduled date in April2011. Investing USD 600 million, thesecond phase of the Hambantota PortDevelopment Project has commenced,and it will be completed in 2014. Thegovernment’s strategy is to mobilizeprivate sector investment in portsector development. The governmenthas recognized the investment throughPublic Private Partnerships (PPPs)in areas of port operation and portinfrastructure building. Using thisstrategy, the Colombo South Portbreakwater was built using publicfunds of USD 300 million and theterminal facilities to be built by theprivate sector by investing about USD500 million.In 2010, total number of 4,075 shipshas arrived to the Ports of Colombo,Galle and Tricomalee. Although thetotal number of vessel arrivals hasdecreased by 11 percent in 2010compared to 4,592 arrived in 2009,the total Twenty-foot EquivalentUnits (TEUs) handled has increasedto 4,160,439 in 2010, from 3,414,596TEUs in 2009 registering a growthof 22 percent. With the continuousinvestment in the sector, it is expectedto handle 10 million TEUs annually by2020.Transshipment handling has increasedby 19 percent to 4,137,000 TEUs in2010 compared to 3,464,000 in 2009.Total cargo handling has also increasedto 61,250,779 MT in 2010 from49,023,932 MT in 2009 registering agrowth of 25 percent.59