Kankesanthurai Harbour Salvage Project:

COL awarded gas contract

Ceylon Oxygen Limited (COL), a member of The Linde Group, has been awarded the exclusive rights to supply industrial gases to the Kankesanthurai harbour (KKS) salvage project being undertaken by Resolve Marine Salvage and Fire Asia Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Resolve Marine Group Inc, USA.

The salvage project, which forms the first part of the larger Kankesanthurai port development project, aims to remove six vessel wrecks that were sunk in Kankesanthurai harbour located at the northern tip of Sri Lanka between 1994 and 1996 during the LTTE conflict.

As part of an agreement between the governments of Sri Lanka and India, the Indian government is funding the KKS salvage project and has contracted Resolve Marine Salvage and Fire Asia for the wreck removal work. Once the wrecks are removed, the port will be developed for commercial operations. The development and re-opening of Kankesanthurai port, which is the closest Sri Lankan port to East India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, is expected to significantly stimulate economic activity in the north of Sri Lanka.

"We are honoured that Ceylon Oxygen Limited (COL) has been awarded the exclusive gases supply contract to this exciting development in Sri Lanka," said Ceylon Oxygen Limited Chief Executive Officer Niran Pieris.

"With the additional capacity from our new plant which is expected to come onstream in September next year, Ceylon Oxygen will be well-positioned to meet future gases demand and new market opportunities associated with the Kankasanthurai port development," Pieris said.

Ceylon Oxygen, which celebrates its 75th anniversary in Sri Lanka this year, is the largest producer of industrial gases in Sri Lanka. Earlier this year, the company said it would invest Rs 1.3 billion (EUR 9.3 million) to install a new 65 tonnes per day (tpd) air separation unit (ASU) in Sapugaskanda which will be the largest air separation plant in the country when it starts production next year.