Colombo East Phase II work under way

Many liners avoid Middle Eastern ports East of Suez and opt for the Cape of Good Hope route to unload or load Middle Eastern cargo in Sri Lanka.

The Washington (DC)-based US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is lending US$553M to Colombo West International Terminal Private Limited (CWITPL), the developers of a new deepsea container terminal in the port of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Ranked as the most efficient port in South Asia in 2021, the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka maintains it is still operating at a high level despite Sri Lanka’s economic crisis.

Despite the crisis unfolding in Sri Lanka executives at the Port of Colombo says its facilities are operating normally.

Ahmedabad-based Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has, at last, gained a foothold in Sri Lanka and, at the same time, bolstered its international expansion programme in the container handling sector of its business.

Although India-based Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) and its Sri Lankan agent were reportedly given ‘in-principle approval’ by the Sri Lanka cabinet in early November to sign a deal with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) to develop/operate the East Container Terminal (ECT), at the time of writing, it was uncertain whether a final agreement would be concluded.