Southern Harbour development project:

New container terminal construction today

Dharma Sri Abeyratne

The construction of the first new container terminal under the Southern Harbour development project of the Colombo Port Expansion Project (CPEP) will commence today at the Colombo Harbour under President Mahinda Rajapaksa's patronage.

"Container handling capacity will significantly increase with the construction of the new container terminal. The present annual container handling capacity of the Colombo Harbour is 4.5 million. During 2010, the Colombo Harbour has operated 4.1 million containers. Considering the increasing demand, the container handling capacity has to be increased to meet the increasing demand," Ports Deputy Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena said. Infrastructure facilities, including container handling capacity are being increased under the CPEP.

"Southern Harbour development will be commissioned by April next year after completing the CPEP," he said.

Three jetties will be constructed under the Southern Harbour development project of the CPEP which will enable to dock three ships. Each jetty is 1,200 metres in length.