Government to call EOIs for West Terminal 2 and Colombo North Port within a month

By Nishel Fernando

The government is planning to call Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from the prospective investors to develop the proposed West Container Terminal Two (WCT-II) and Colombo North Port, within a month.

“The proposed Colombo West Terminal Two and Colombo North Port are expected to expedite the performance of Sri Lanka’s ports. Therefore, we will call for Expressions of Interest for these projects within a month,” President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament yesterday.

WCT-II will involve the expansion of the existing western breakwater, extending it further into the deep sea and pushing westward to encompass a minimum of 50-70 hectares of land behind WCT-II. This expansion will also include the creation of a south harbour basin, featuring a 1200-1400-metre quay wall, at a depth of 20 metres, providing a capacity of 3.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), adjacent to the WCT-I terminal.

Upon the successful completion of this project, the Port of Colombo is expected to boast a 2600-2800-metre straight quay wall, at a depth of 18-20 metres, incorporating both WCT-I and WCT-II. Additionally, a dedicated land area of 50-70 hectares behind the WCT-II terminal will also be reserved for logistics facilities.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing the funds for the detail design exercise for the extension of the western breakwater for WCT-II, at an estimated cost of US $ 5 million.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority aims to commence the operations of WCT-II before 2030, to prevent a capacity crunch and potential business loss after 2028.

Meanwhile, the proposed North Port of Colombo consists of three container terminals, with a total of 4,600-metre quay, a multi-purpose terminal, with a 700-metre quay, two oil berths and logistics/warehousing space. This project is aimed at boosting capacity to meet the increasing demand in the 2030-2050 period.

The proposed Colombo North Port is envisaged to extend from the Kelani River in the Modara area to the existing northern breakwater of the Port of Colombo.

The feasibility study for the proposed Colombo North Port development project was lunched nearly two years ago. It was undertaken by AECOM Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited, under the Transport Project Preparatory Facility funded by the ADB.

The first terminal was set to come into operations in 2034, at the earliest, while the last phase—the third terminal— is expected to come into operation in 2048, by boosting the Port of Colombo’s overall capacity to around 30 million TEUs.

According to the forecast, the container throughput of the Port of Colombo is projected to reach up to 29.15 million TEUs, including 25.7 million TEUs in transshipment volumes, in 2050.

“Logistics holds significant potential to serve as a premier driver of economic development in Sri Lanka, leveraging the country’s strategic geographic location. Currently, logistics contributes approximately 2.5 percent of the nation’s GDP, 7 percent contribution to exports and provides direct full-time employment to an estimated 40,000-50,000 individuals,” Dissanayake pointed out.