Sri Lanka''s deep sea port at Hambantota, on the south coast of the island, will finally start storing bunker fuel, according to media reports.
Port operator, the state run Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) had originally intended to open the gas terminal facility six months after the port opened during the second half of 2011, but there were delays to the Chinese built installation that sits on strategic shipping lanes which makes the project commercially viable, says Reuters.
It’s hoped that the new $130m facility will be used as are fuelling point for cargo ships passing the southern tip of the country on one of the world’s busiest east-west shipping lanes.
Hambantota port, with its 1km quay, was constructed by the China Harbour Engineering Company for a reported cost of around $360m.
Chinese influence is familiar in the country, previously China Merchants Holdings International Co teamed up with Aitken Spence to build a $450m container terminal in Colombo port.
But the amount of Chinese investment in similar port developments stretching from Myanmar to Pakistan has worried neighboring India – the fear is that it will give the Chinese Navy a strategic boost in the region.
