Colombo: Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), 85% owned by the state-run China Merchant Holdings International, has started operation today.
The terminal will function as a major transit terminal for the region and it is the only terminal in Sri Lanka that can handle 14,500 teu containerships. Sri Lanka Ports Authority expects to achieve a capacity of 10m teu by 2020.
The $500m Chinese-built port fulfills Beijing's dream of opening an alternative sea route and obtaining access to the Indian Ocean.
“The new terminal made economic sense for China to tap in to the growing South Asian container cargo and gave Beijing a foothold along a strategic sea route,” said an independent shipping expert.
China also funded another deep-sea port at the southern Sri Lankan city of Hambantota, which opened in June 2012. [05/08/13]
