China Merchants-led consortium wins Colombo terminal concession

SRI LANKA has awarded a contract to build and operate a new deep-water container terminal in Colombo port to a consortium comprising of Hong Kong-based China Merchant Holdings International and the Colombo listed Aitken Spence.

The government`s cabinet appointed negotiating committee has granted the consortium a letter of intent to design, build and operate the South Container Terminal, which is the first terminal of the Colombo Port Expansion Project and will be built in two phases.


The new terminal, covering 58 hectares and expected to be operational by 2013, will have a quay length of 1.2 kilometres with a minimum depth alongside of 18 metres and an annual capacity of 2.4 million TEU.


Jointly owned by Aitken Spence, China Merchants and the Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA), the project costs US$441.31 million and nearly $266.58 million will be funded mainly by an Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan.


China Merchants will hold 55 per cent, Aitken Spence 30 per cent and the SLPA 15 per cent of the new terminal.