|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Saturday, 01 January 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Business | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Expedite Colombo port south harbour project - Shippers' Council Improving Sri Lanka's competitive advantage in the shipping sector is the only way to meet competition from elsewhere, said an official of Sri Lanka Shippers Council. Sri Lanka should improve productivity and also reduce tariffs. Barring the impacts, of the Sethusamudram project. Shippers' Council is of the opinion that Sri Lanka should focus more on upgrading our own seaports than making a cry about the negative commercial impact, to Sri Lanka. "A better strategy would be to increase our capacity by expediting the South Harbour project in the port of Colombo and have it upgraded to accommodate large post Panamex vessels. Once the productivity issues are sorted out and the proper infrastructure is made available, large carriers would definitely prefer the Port of Colombo, than its South Indian counterparts. When carrying out the project authorities must be conscious of the future trends in the global shipping industry," the official said. Another option would be to simultaneously proceed with the building of the port at Hambantota in the South. It's close proximity to international sea routes, would give Hambantota port a natural competitive advantage which none of the Indian ports could match. It is reported that the Indian Government has now finalised its plans for implementing the so-called, ship channel across the Palk Strait, between Sri Lanka and India. Once completed, the Sethusamudram ship canal will be of 12m draughts with seabed width of 300m. Currently ships plying between east and west coast of India have to sail around the island of Sri Lanka and once the canal is commissioned the ships could avoid this route and it is said, that it will save, about 20 to 30 hours of steaming time. In the recent past, there has been much debate on the impact of the above project to Sri Lanka. As the premiere body representing the Shippers of Sri Lanka, the Council is concerned about the project and intends to address two key areas of impact - Commercial and Ecological. There are reports that once the ship canal is completed the vessels plying on the east west route will bypass the Colombo Port and directly call over at South Indian ports such as Tuticorin and Cochin. This may result in the Colombo Port losing its revenue generated mainly from transshipment cargo coming from the Indian subcontinent. However, it remains to be seen as to how a canal with such a low draught and narrow width could accommodate large post Panamex vessels, which are being used in the carriage of cargo in the main sea routes. Low draught means that large ships, which are in need of about 18m draughts, will not be able to use this canal. Also the time gain of 20 to 30 hours can be disputed, as this gain will be offset by embarkation and disembarkation of pilots and officials, cumbersome inspection procedures and slow movement at almost half the speed through the 80 nautical miles canal. The net gain may be only 12 to 16 hours at the cost of risky and tiring piloting of the vessels through the narrow canal at low speed. In comparison, Suez Canal can accommodate vessels of even 20 m draught and the Panama Canal has a maximum draught of 18m. The time savings derived out of these canals is very much more than the Sethusamudram canal. As with any other project which involves the change of nature, the project is bound to have some serious environmental impacts. It may cause massive migration of fish and other fauna into the deeper gulf regions. This would result in the reduction in fishing area and cause heavy pollution due to the ballast of water of passing vessels. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
