Shipping majors circle Sri Lankan ports amid regional expansion race

• Maersk, CMA CGM, MSC and COSCO have all shown interest in stakes at the ECT or Hambantota port, though MSC’s Hambantota talks remain unofficial, industry sources say
• WCT nears full operations ahead of the longer-running ECT, as SLPA eyes carrier investment in the future WCT-2 breakwater
• Development follows MSC’s parallel ₹13,228 crore stake buy in India’s Vizhinjam port

Several world’s leading container shipping lines — including Maersk, CMA CGM, MSC and COSCO — have shown interest in acquiring a stake in Sri Lanka’s East Container Terminal (ECT) or Hambantota International Port, according to industry sources.

The interest follows a report by the US trade publication Journal of Commerce (JOC), which said MSC was in advanced talks with China Merchants Port Holdings (CMPort) and Sri Lankan authorities to acquire a significant stake in Hambantota International Port. 

JOC’s report, citing multiple unnamed industry sources, said CMPort currently holds an 85 percent stake in Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG), with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) retaining the remaining 15 percent, and that an official announcement on the proposed investment was expected soon.  According to industry sources, however, MSC is not yet in official talks to acquire a stake in Hambantota — a more cautious account than JOC’s reporting suggests, and one that points to continued uncertainty over how advanced, or how settled, the carrier’s actual position is.

Separately, sources familiar with a recent closed-door industry discussion said shipping lines have expressed interest in investing in the second phase of the West Container Terminal (WCT-2) at the Port of Colombo, including its breakwater extension. CMA CGM was recently given a tour of the Port of Colombo, sources said, as carriers continue to assess investment opportunities across the island’s port infrastructure.

WCT-2 remains at an early stage. The project involves extending the existing western breakwater into deeper water and reclaiming 50-70 hectares of land behind the terminal, to create a 1,200-1,400 metre quay wall at a depth of 20 metres with capacity for 3.5 million TEUs. The Asian Development Bank is funding the detailed design work for the breakwater extension, estimated at US$ 5 million, while the SLPA has previously said the full investment figure cannot be finalised until the breakwater scope is settled — construction of comparable capacity elsewhere in the port has run to roughly US$ 700 million. The authority has targeted commissioning WCT-2 before 2030 to avoid a capacity crunch once existing terminals reach saturation.

That future project sits alongside two terminals already handling cargo, both still under construction but operating on a partial basis. The Adani-JKH-led West Container Terminal’s first phase entered commercial operations in April 2025 and is on track to complete its final phase by late 2026, several months ahead of its original February 2027 deadline. 

The ECT, by contrast, has a longer and more disrupted history: its first phase was completed as far back as 2015, but construction then stalled for years before recommencing in 2022, and the terminal continued to face periodic operational halts linked to crane installation and equipment procurement as recently as mid-2025.

The SLPA now expects both terminals to reach full operational readiness by the end of 2026, with each expected to handle approximately 3 million TEUs annually once complete — meaning the newer-built WCT has moved through commissioning faster than the ECT, despite the latter’s seven-year head start.

The reported interest in Sri Lankan port assets comes against the backdrop of MSC’s rapidly deepening footprint across the region. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has signed a binding agreement to sell 49 percent stake in Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited — the concessionaire for India’s Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerala — to Terminal Investment Limited (TiL), MSC’s terminal-operating arm, in a deal valued at around Indian Rs. 13,228 crore (approximately US$ 1.4 billion). Vizhinjam, positioned close to the same east-west shipping corridor as Colombo and Hambantota, has been developed explicitly to reduce India’s reliance on foreign transshipment hubs including Colombo, Singapore and Dubai.

An MSC foothold there — layered onto its existing joint ventures with APSEZ at Mundra and Kamarajar — would give the carrier direct influence over a port designed to compete for the same regional cargo that currently transits Sri Lanka, adding a competitive dimension to any parallel interest MSC may have in Hambantota or the ECT.

An industry analyst said the Sri Lankan government needs to demonstrate greater decisiveness to give shipping lines the confidence required to commit to investment in local port assets, adding that continued uncertainty risks carriers directing capital toward competing regional hubs such as Vizhinjam instead.