Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the country on Tuesday morning in a show of strength to the prevailing China-Sri Lanka Relations.
Incidentally, it is after a period of twenty eight years that a head of state from China arrived in Sri Lanka.
President Xi Jinping was warmly welcomed to the country at the Bandaranaike International Airport.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and First Lady Shiranthi Wickremasinghe Rajapaksa welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan at the Bandaranaike International Airport on Tuesday morning.
A number of high-level officials were present at the airport to welcome the Chinese President and his delegation. The visiting Chinese President called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat. Both leaders were engaged in an extensive discussion.
The final phase of the Norochcholai Thermal Power Plant that was constructed with Chinese aid of 1.34 Billion US Dollars was declared open by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The presentation took place at the Presidential Secretariat.
The two leaders joined their delegations to sign more than 20 bilateral agreements to enhance cooperation between the two countries.
On Wednesday, President Rajapaksa and President Xi Jinping will visit the Colombo International Container Terminal to launch the construction of the Colombo Port City.
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A plaque exchange ceremony was held on board the cruise ship MV Ocean Princess in celebration of its maiden call to Colombo with 672 passengers yesterday.
The agency services for this cruise line is provided by Malship (Ceylon) Ltd., a company representing many international shipping lines in the conventional and container shipping business. Ocean Princess is currently on a 38-day Western Mediterranean Cruise from Dover to Singapore (7 September to 15 October).
Ocean Princess, formerly R Four, and Tahitian Princess, is an R-class cruise ship owned by Princess Cruise Liner. She mainly sails around the French Polynesian islands, Society Islands, Cook Islands and Marquesas Islands and often sails to Hawaii. In November 2009 the Tahitian Princess was renamed Ocean Princess to reflect a more global theme.
Ocean Princess is an elegant ship that features superb décor in the grand public rooms reminiscent of classic liner days. Over 60% of the rooms have outside balconies. It has two elegant restaurants, the Sterling SteakhouseSM and Sabatini’sSM, featuring menus that passengers’ taste buds will never forget.
To mark the significance of this move to the SLPA, plaques were exchanged between the SLPA Chairman Dr. Priyath B. Wickrama and the Master of the cruise ship MV Ocean Princess Capt. Carlo Servillo in the presence of senior officials of SLPA and the officials of Malship (Ceylon) Ltd.
Commenting on the significance of the occasion, Dr. Wickrama said: “The ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ vision is to drive tourism to new heights by doubling the hotel room capacity to 50,000 by 2016 with US$ 3 billion FDI. The Sri Lanka Tourism Strategy for the period 2011 to 2016, launched in November 2011, aims to welcome 2.5 million arrivals by 2016 which will increase tourism earnings by over five times to US$ 2.75 billion a year. The SLPA is fully poised to shoulder the development of this sector.
“The SLPA has already taken the initiative to contribute to this endeavour of the Government. It will develop the Port of Galle to be the most sought-after cruise destination in Sri Lanka. Plans are afoot to fully develop the Port of Galle as a tourist port. To give you some recent statistics, Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals surged 26.1% in August 2013 from a year earlier to 100,224 and total arrivals up to August were up 14.3% to 711,446. The booming economy of the country resulting from the dawn of peace has created a conducive climate for a boost in the tourism industry in Sri Lanka. In this context, whilst working in tandem with the tourism sector, Sri Lankan ports have vitally important roles to play.”
Expressing his views on the occasion, SLPA Managing Director Capt. Nihal Keppetipola said: “We have recently seen an increase in the cruise vessels arriving in the Port of Colombo, which was a very rare occurrence before 2009. I am also happy that tourist arrivals are increasing. This trend betokens a new era for the tourism industry in Sri Lanka which is on the threshold of an economic renaissance with huge maritime-related infrastructure development projects in the port sector.”
“Therefore, it is important that our ports and coastal destinations are carefully managed and smartly promoted for the sustainable growth of this important market segment. This apart, in order for Sri Lanka to fully capitalise on this growing tourism sector, it is extremely necessary to examine the current trends and future directions of the worldwide cruise industry. I thank local operator Malship (Ceylon) Ltd. for their efforts in introducing Colombo to the itineraries of Princess Cruises,” he further said.
Malship (Ceylon) Ltd. Managing Director Mackey Hashim also remarked at the ceremony: “Our principals are eager to help Sri Lanka mark its global presence by including Colombo in their popular cruise itineraries and we are really proud to be associated with the renowned Princess Cruise Liner as their local representative. We are ready to shoulder the efforts of the Government of Sri Lanka to earn their projected income from tourism in the coming years.”
Source: (www.ft.lk)
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Colombo International Container Terminals Ltd. (CICT), a joint venture between China Merchants Holdings International Company Ltd. and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, has delivered on its commitment to be the single catalyst and significant player in making the Port of Colombo the regional maritime hub.
Within a very short time period of just three months of commencing commercial operations, CICT has attracted the largest-ever container ship of 14,000 teu capacity to make a regular call at its terminal in the Colombo South Harbour.
The brand new vessel MV. Thalassa Hellas owned by the world’s fourth largest container Shipping Line, Evergreen Marine Corporation of Taiwan, berthed at the western end of the 18 metre deep alongside berth at CICT last afternoon.
This maiden call of this vessel was given a traditional welcome on arrival by senior officials of CICT.
Also present at the berth to witness this historic occasion were the owners representatives of the shipping line, senior officials of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, and other invitees of Evergreen Marine Corporation.
The behemoth entering the new access channel of the Port of Colombo, direct from the Indian Ocean into the new Colombo South Harbour basin, was a prize picture for those following the history of the Port of Colombo. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority provided the professional pilotage and related tug boat services to ensure the safe berthing of the ship, alongside the berth. The manoeuvring of the 370 meter long vessel was carried out to precision with the assistance of the very high-powered bow-thrusters and the latest navigational equipment fitted on board this vessel.
This event is a very significant milestone in the history of the Port of Colombo, as there is no other port in the whole of South Asia, adjacent to the East-West shipping route, that could accommodate and service such a large vessel. CICT has proved now, with the arrival of this vessel at CICT, that the focus of attention of all the other competing shipping lines is bound to shift to the Port of Colombo.
This CICT project commenced construction in December 2011 with a project completion timeframe of 60 months. But within months CICT revised the timeframe to fully complete the project from the original plan of 60 months to 28 months. The first phase of construction was completed in 19 months and equipped with the largest-ever ship to shore gantry cranes and commenced commercial operation very much ahead of schedule.
With the second phase also running ahead of schedule, the second batch of ship to shore cranes arrived just two weeks ago. CICT, backed by a huge technical resource pool of shareholders, is to accomplish the full project by the first quarter of next year to meet the challenges in handling the 18,000 plus TEU ships that are already in service. This would no doubt draw the attention of the shipping lines and logistics service providers to the pivotal role that the Port of Colombo will play in the region.
Asked to comment on the two record achievements of fast tracking the construction period and delivering on attracting the largest carrier to the Port of Colombo, the General Manager of CICT Tissa Wickramasinghe emphasised that this challenging achievement was made possible due to the joint venture partners working together to meet the single objective of making the Port of Colombo the regional maritime hub. This was complemented with the ABC philosophy of American quality, British standards, and Chinese speed.
CICT is focused on attracting the attention of the niche market of ultra-large-container-carriers, to make Colombo the port of call on their East-West service rotation. He acknowledged that with the current trend of the container shipping industry being the phasing in of ultra-large-container-carriers and mega-alliances among the major players, there were challenging but exciting times ahead for CICT and the Port of Colombo. (FT.lk)
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