Colombo South Harbour declared open by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse

Sri Lanka’s President, Mahinda Rajapakse on 5 August 2013 declared open the new International Container Terminal of the Colombo harbour. This new facility would help Sri Lanka to attract re-shipment traffic. The harbor will also compete with Singapore and Dubai for Indian business.

The Colombo International Container Terminal is located mid-way on the lucrative east-west sea route and has facilities on a par with Singapore and Dubai and this new port would boost Asia Europe trade.

About the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT)
•    The Colombo International Container Terminal, built with a partnership between the Government of Srilanka and China Merchant Holdings International is designed to handle mega ships over 18000 and 20-foot container capacity.
•    The new South Port is the only harbor in South Asia that can accommodate the Triple-E Class vessels.
•    CICT, US 500 million dollar project was launched in 2006 to cater for the increasing demands of services in the international shipping industry.
•     According to the Sri Lanka Port Authority, this project is the largest ever mega-infrastructure development project undertaken by Sri Lanka.