Asia/Pacific News
New Hambantota Port Management Agreement "Virtually Finalised"
Mahinda Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka's Minister of Ports and Shipping, this week announced that an agreement with China Merchants Port Holdings Company (CMPort) over the future management of the Hambantota Port has been "virtually finalised," Sri Lankan media reports.
"The negotiations on Hambantota will be handled by me and me only," said Samarasinghe.
"Earlier there were too many cooks – too many people negotiating on behalf of the government and making conflicting statements which confused even the people with whom we were talking."
As Ship & Bunker reported in January, following fierce public debate, Malik Samarawickrama, Sri Lanka's Minister of Strategic Development and International Trade, said the Government of Sri Lanka and the CMPort was set to renegotiate the $1.4 billion framework agreement that was signed in December.
"I don't see any major issues now on the table. We're confident we can finish it soon," said Samarasinghe of the agreement's most recent iteration.
"The Chinese side displayed a positive attitude and the agreement is virtually finalised. We can finish it fairly soon."
While this appears to be a step forward for the port as a whole, no specific details were provided on how management of bunkering at the port would be affected in the latest iteration of the agreement.
As Ship & Bunker reported earlier in the year, questions had been raised over the process by which the port authority handled its call for tenders for the operation of the Hambantota marine oil and gas tank farm and bunkering facilities.
