Wrong political decisions on ports affect Sri Lanka’s future as a key regional hub
Owing to the sphere of China’s growing influence in in the Indian ocean, India has viewed this as a growing threat to its regional security. Even before Sri Lanka handed over the Hambantota Port to China on a 99 year old lease the Sri Lankan government had many strategic choices on the table to decide on. But due to the vagaries of wrong political decisions made by successive governments, the country has not benefitted at all, said Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, a Strategic Advisor on Geopolitics, at a recent media conference held at the BMICH on the topic of “The Future of Ports Development in Sri Lanka”.
He said a joint project involving the US, Japan and India had laid down a submarine cable in the Indian ocean to monitor and detect the number of submarines entering the deep Indian ocean under a code named as the Fish Hook.
State Minister for Urban Development, Coast Conservation, Waste Disposal and Community Dr. Nalaka Godahewa said the Port of Colombo and other ports in the country can be viewed as revenue generating ports as most international shipping lanes are located around 60 km from Sri Lanka.
Therefore it is essential for state intervention for the management of such ports for related issues like security and where commercial matters are concerned. ”We do not see any wrong in inviting local and foreign investors to develop our port terminals while the state manages them. However the state cannot interfere with matters connected with the Hambantota Port as it has already been given to another country. But the Colombo port was always viewed as developing commercial interests in the country,” he said.
Rohan Masakorala, CEO of the Shippers Academy Colombo and the Chairman of the Logistics Advisory Committee for the EDB, said that due to the lack of foresight and a master plan by the successive governments for developing local shipping ports, the Oman and Malaysian governments set up ports in their countries to fill the void. The landlord Port Model is now the accepted model by global shipping companies to regulate container terminals independently. He said of the 30 global shipping lines only 10 shipping lines exist today during the past 30 years.
The 10 shipping lines too have consolidated themselves into three. Maersk Shipping line, a Danish International container shipping company is the largest operating subsidiary of Maersk Group. Even countries such as the US and Singapore do not have a shipping line. It has been estimated around 500 million containers are expected to shipped globally in 2024. Where the Sri Lanka region is located, 87 million containers are expected to be shipped during this period. The South Asian region is the fastest growing region where container traffic is expected to flow. However 80 per cent of container traffic is handled by private shipping companies and only 20 per cent is handled by states the world over. It is essential to form alliances with shipping companies to generate business. As technology is changing rapidly future ship builders will design ships to navigate in shallow waters, he added.