COLOMBO BREAKS RECORD

Informed sources indicate that a major roadblock is the issue of Hutchison Port Holdings getting security clearance to bid for the project. The Cabinet Committee on Internal Security, which met in March to decide on the issue, referred the matter to the National Security Council who, in turn, requested an extension of the bid process to a date in May. Now, further delays in the bid process are anticipated while the security issue, and therefore Hutchison’s potential involvement in the project, continues to be mulled over.

This improves on the previous record, dating to August 2005, of 220,732TEU. Total first quarter throughput amounted to 647,977TEU, up 14.9%.