Saturday, December 27, 2008

THE PORT OF HAMBANTOTA, SRI LANKA, AND CHINA





clipped from: www.marinebuzz.com
A new sea port, Hambantota at the southern end of Sri Lanka is being developed at a cost of one billion US$ by China. The Exim Bank of China is funding this project.

The project includes


  • A gas-fired power plant project
  • A ship repair unit
  • A container repair unit
  • An oil refinery
  • A bunkering terminal.

Work on the bunkering terminal is expected to start before December 2007, and is expected to be completed in 39 months. The plan caters for the terminal to handle up to 500,000 metric tonnes (mt) of oil products a year.

China is increasingly depending on oil import from middle east countries. The sea route for oil imports as shown in the map below is of great importance to China and China wants to have a control over this sea route

“China has given massive aid to Indian Ocean nations, signing friendship pacts, building ports in Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as Sri Lanka, and reportedly setting up a listening post on one of Myanmar’s islands near the strategic Strait of Malacca.” Read more from indianexpress.

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