About Srilanka
Located off the South East coast of India, Sri Lanka is a small island known for being a navigation hub for traders and travellers for over five centuries. Its geographical coordinates are placed strategically between 6 – 10 degrees of North latitude and between 80 – 82 degrees of the East longitude; resulting in the perfect climate for harbouring and docking ships throughout the year.
All through history, Sri Lanka has been coveted by many nations for its role in navigation. Early ship merchants from countries stretching as far as Greece in the West and China in the East frequented the island. The Portuguese, Dutch and later the British colonized the island for its many desired attributes that included its value as a natural harbour.
Despite Sri Lanka being a small island it contains several harbours including Colombo, Galle, Trincomalee, Hambantota and Oluvil. The Trincomalee harbour is renowned for being the largest natural harbour in Asia.
The Indian Ocean, in which Sri Lanka is located, has become a focal point of navigation in the 21st century. The establishment of the “New Silk Route” due to an increase in sea borne trade with 70% of the global oil trade and 5% of container traffic passing through the Indian Ocean allows Sri Lanka to become an important maritime hub. Sri Lanka’s location also enables it to be viewed as the gateway to East Asia.
According to statistics, approximately 24 percent of world container traffic from the East to the West goes though the Colombo port area including ships to Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. By increasing the capacity to accommodate more containers at the Colombo port, Sri Lanka can effectively become a maritime hub in the region.
As Sri Lanka is situated at a nerve center for shipping, the country can fill the gap between Singapore and Dubai in terms of handling very large ships. The Colombo port has the capacity to cater to some of the deepest and largest container ships in the world.
The main commercial port at Colombo is ranked 30th among the 125 ports in the world. Approximately 400 ships enter the port every year and is targeted to increase its container handling capacity to ten million (10 M) TEU’s (20foot Equivalent Units) by 2020.
Sri Lanka is an island is blessed with other wonders of its own. Blessed with many sun-kissed beaches, a cool hill country, many wild jungles and plains, Sri Lanka is the ideal holiday destination for many. The country prides itself on the abundance of biodiversity that includes indigenous flora and fauna, breathtaking historic monuments in expansive ruin cities. Sri Lanka is world famous for its hospitality and rich in its heritage as a historic nation whose advancements in agriculture, architecture, engineering, philosophy and the arts astound historians.