Hambantota International Port (HIP), Sri Lanka, has made an $8 million (€7.3 million) investment to build another 68,000 m² of parking space. The additional 5,000 slots will accommodate the rising number of transhipment vehicles to the port.
HIP currently has the capacity to accommodate approximately 28,000 units, servicing nine main shipping lines who actively use the port for transhipment of ro-ro cargo. Large volumes are expected via several shipping lines in the coming months, so the port management considers the rapid expansion of the ro-ro yard an urgent necessity.
Tissa Wickramasinghe, Hambantota International Port Group COO, says: ‘HIP is becoming an attractive destination for ro-ro transhipment due to a combination of factors, the topmost marketable aspect being our reliability, closely followed by our safety standards, speed of execution and strategic location.’
The facility will be completed within the next seven months and will have a yard-to-berth distance of 55 m.
‘As the global economy gradually improves, we expect to see a further increase of our volumes. In order to give confidence to its customers, HIPG will continue to make investments in areas of strategic importance to the long-term development of HIP. This is a continuous process and is done in line with global trends to build capacity ahead of demand,’ Wickramasinghe adds.
Source: Cyann Fielding, AntwerpXL 2023
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