Sri Lanka is fast losing in competitiveness in the quest for regional shipping hub status as the delay to kick start several development projects in the Colombo Harbour, said Julian Michael Bevis, Senior Director, Group Relations, South Asia, Maersk Line India Pvt. Ltd.
A veteran in the shipping industry for over four decades he said that two years ago government called for expressions of Interest (EOI) for the construction of the Colombo East container terminal (CET) and they too made a bid joining John Keells and an Indian company. “We were made to believe that we were a successful bidder but two years later we understand that the EOI in this regard has been disregarded.”
Now we understand that the government is going ahead with the Sri Lanka Pots Authority to build the CET but still it is to take off. He said that the development of the CET has to take off soon or Colombo competitiveness in the region would drop.The shipping industry has no ‘loyalty ports’ in their agenda for transshipment purposes and as soon as there is a better port they will abandon the current port and move in to the next best Port. “The delay in building ECT would reduce the competitiveness of the Colombo harbour resulting in delay in clearing which would result in operators moving to other regional ports.
He also said that building the ECT would also create more opportunities for the local logistics sector and create wealth and more employment to Sri Lanka.
“We are still ready to invest provided the right cards are laid on the table.”
Commenting on India he said the present government has identified Shipping and logistics as a major economic driver and are investing heavily to reap benefits.
He said that they are not keen to move in to Hambantota as they are still unclear about the politics that are going in there. It’s a good investment for China since it’s in their proposed Silk Route initiative.
He said that the Maersk Line, with a presence in Sri Lanka for more than 25 years, continues to invest in Sri Lanka and contribute to its economy by bringing some of the latest and largest ships to Colombo.
As such, “Milan “ one of the world’s largest ships, will arrive in Colombo on October 17 at the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT). “We fully support the vision of the Government of Sri Lanka to develop the country into a maritime hub and are keen on lending a hand to ensure its success. It is with this vision, that we are bringing one of our largest ships into the port of Colombo,”he said.
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