Government invites private sector to take part in US$ 2bn North Port development

Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva, President Ranil Wickremesinghe and other dignitaries at the launch of ’30-year Development Plan of the North Port of Colombo’ at BMICH

• 30-year development plan of North Port presented to President Wickremesinghe
• To have 3 terminals, one multi-purpose terminal, 2 oil berths and warehousing space
• Planning and designing of the project set to begin in 2025; breakwater construction to begin in 2027

• By Nishel Fernando 

The government is eyeing US$ 2 billion worth of investments to build the proposed North Port of Colombo consisting of three container terminals with a total of 4, 600-metre quay, a multi-purpose terminal with 700-metre quay, two oil berths and logistics/warehousing space in order to boost capacity to meet the increasing demand from 2030-2050 period.

“The private sector can take part in this North Port (of Colombo) project which will be built at an estimated cost of US$ 2 billion,” Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva announced in Colombo last Friday.
The feasibility study for the proposed Colombo North Port development project titled ‘30-year Development Plan of the North Port of Colombo’ was presented to President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the BMICH in Colombo last Friday.

The feasibility study undertook by AECOM Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited under the Transport Project Preparatory Facility was funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). 

“The intent of the proposed CNP development is to provide additional port capacity within a sheltered harbour for future freight traffic. The primary aim is to accommodate forecast growth in gateway cargo and transshipment containers up to year 2050. Other cargo types (i.e. dry bulk, general cargo and RoRo) were also considered. 
Further, the existing development plan for the Port of Colombo will be concluded during year 2030/2032 and it requires to initiate development plans after 2030,” the report noted.

According to the forecast, the container throughput of Port of Colombo is projected to reach up to 29.15 million TEUs, including 25.7 million TEUs in transshipment volumes, in 2050 from projected 9.49 million TEUs, including 7.85 transshipment container volumes, in 2025.

After assessing five short-listed options in great detail (using multi-criteria analysis), the report recommended the government three container terminals with total 4600m quay, a multi-purpose terminal with 700m quay, two oil berths and logistics/warehousing space as the preferred option for the project.

In addition, dry bulk cargo , liquid bulk  and bunker oil handled by the port are set to reach 2.7 million tonnes, 4.66 million tonnes and 2.86 million tonnes by 2050 from 3.4 million tonnes, 5.585 million tonnes and 1.44 million tonnes projected for 2025. Moreover, plans are underway to setup LNG facilities at the port which are projected to reach 2.62 million tonnes by 2050.

While noting that the government is still exploring financing options for the proposed North Port which includes breakwater construction, Sri Lanka Port Authority Chairman  Keith D. Bernard shared that the construction of the proposed project would  be carried out under a public-private partnership (PPP) basis.

Accordingly, the planning and designing of the project is set to begin in 2025 and the breakwater construction is scheduled to commence in 2027. 
The first terminal is set to come into operations in 2034 at the earliest, while the last phase—the third terminal— is expected to come into operation in 2048, by boosting the Port of Colombo’s overall capacity to around 30 million TEUs.