Asia/Pacific News
Hambantota Bunkering Could Start Next Month
The wait for bunkering at Sri Lanka's Hambantota port could soon be over, with a report by the country's Lanka Business Online news site suggesting operations could now start next month.
Quoting the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) as its source, the site said operations would begin "around July" once testing of its facilities are completed.
Authorities had originally planned for a May 2011 start date for bunkering operations at the $1.5 billion port, and despite a number of hopeful announcements since then, factors including the removal of an undersea rock at the mouth of the port have lead to delays.
SLPA chairman Priyath Wickrama said in March that "proper bunkering" might have been able to begin as early as this month.
Despite the set backs, Sri Lanka's bunkering industry has been the recipient of a number of positive comments over the last year.
Local media reported last summer that ClassNK Chairman and President Noboru Ueda said that Sri Lanka could "join the ranks with Singapore and the UAE as a leader in the maritime world," while Det Norske Veritas (DNV) last month said in 2012 bunkers sold at country's port of Colombo had, as a percentage, fewer off-spec samples than in Singapore.
