Asia/Pacific News
Bunkering Ops at Sri Lanka's Hambantota To Begin in June
Sri Lanka's port of Hambantota will start storing bunker fuel and begin "proper bunkering" in June 2013, Priyath Wickrama, chairman of the state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), has said in an interview by news agency Reuters.
"We are about to get the test samples in March. Then we will do the trials. After that we will start proper bunkering operation in June," he said.
The $130 million storage project contains eight tanks for bunkers, as well as six tanks for aviation fuel and LPG, and the bunkering facilities have been previously quoted by official government news site News.lk as costing $76.5 million.
Wickrama said in 2013 it expects to handle bunker volumes of about 45,000 metric tonnes (mt), rising to 125,000 mt in 2015.
Bunkering was originally scheduled to begin in May 2011, but the removal of an undersea rock blocking the mouth of the port was necessary before the port could be fully operational.
"Unfortunately due to certain clearance issues, there was a slight delay," Wickrama said.
The government said in November 2012 that the bunkering facilities were finally ready for operation.
There has been much expectation for bunkering development in Sri Lanka. ClassNK Chairman and President Noboru Ueda was quoted as saying that Sri Lanka could "join the ranks with Singapore and the UAE as a leader in the maritime world," while a 2011 report by World Bunkering said that Colombo and other Sri Lankan ports have the potential to be major bunker ports.
China has provided the bulk of the $1.5 billion to build Hambantota, but the bunkering operation is the only part of the port that is not open to external investment.
