Traffic to the Hambantota International Port increased significantly during the last year, with 300 vessels calling with different service requirements, the China Merchant Port Holdings Limited  (CMPL) said in a statement.

"Whilst their volume of RORO vessels handled had increased by 136%, the multi-services provided by the port has pushed its activities, which were previously centered around RORO and passenger ship operations, to bulk, break-bulk, ship supply services, repairs and layups," the statement also added. 

Commenting on their first year in Sri Lanka, the company said, "The port’s marketing and commercial teams have had a busy 2018, working on a worldwide campaign to position the Hambantota Port with the focus of attracting the necessary components to make it a truly multi-purpose harbour.  Today, their efforts have borne fruit with so many different ships with varied service requirements calling at the port."

The statement also added: "The Hambantota International Port (HIP) saw an increase in vessels docking at the port on the first week of the new year.  One of the region's top multipurpose ports, HIP is currently handling a number of different activities, from ship to ship transfers (STS) to ship repairs and warm layups.  Apart from the regular car transhipment vessels, there is a vessel requiring Ship to Ship transfer (STS) operations and a ship belonging to the Sri Lanka navy amongst the six vessels currently berthed in the Harbour.

The varied services offered by the highly experienced port staff include a warm layup for drillship ‘Aban Abraham’ in port for a period of 6 months, a hot layup for Oil Tanker ‘Champion Express’, a ship to ship transfer operation for mv. ‘Orchid’, loading and unloading operations for RORO vessels ‘Glovis Siris’ and ‘Glovis Champion’ as well as a familiarization & operational requirement for Sri Lankan naval vessel ‘Saurala.’

HIPG expects to see a manifold increase in vessel traffic in the new year, which would greatly increase the turnover of the port and in turn provide economic benefits to the Hambantota region."