Hambantota Port Breaks Through 1 Million TEUs

COLOMBO (News 1st); Hambantota International Port (HIP) has surpassed one million TEUs in cumulative container throughput since the commissioning of its new quay cranes in 2025.

According to port officials, HIP handled 428,036 TEUs in 2025, while container throughput reached 574,196 TEUs so far in 2026, taking the cumulative volume to 1,002,232 TEUs.

HIPG Chief Executive Officer Wilson Qu described the milestone as an important step in the port's transformation into a competitive container hub serving both regional and international trade.

A key driver behind the growth has been HIP's partnership with MSC, the port's principal customer in the container sector. The collaboration delivered several major operational milestones during 2026.

In April, the port established a new single-vessel handling record when MSC Marie Leslie recorded 7,968 container moves, equivalent to 13,260 TEUs, during its call at Hambantota Port. The achievement surpassed the previous records set by MSC Ilenia and MSC Ruby in March.

The port also recorded its highest-ever monthly container throughput in June, handling 80,325 TEUs.

To accommodate continued growth, Hambantota International Port is moving ahead with a large-scale expansion programme aimed at strengthening its container-handling infrastructure and increasing capacity.

The development includes investments in additional berth utilisation, container yard expansion, greater reefer capacity and infrastructure upgrades capable of accommodating larger container vessels.

At the heart of the project is a USD 108 million investment in container-handling machinery and related assets. The programme includes the acquisition of six new quay cranes and 16 rubber-tyred gantry cranes, with commissioning expected by the end of February 2027.

Once operational, the new equipment is expected to significantly boost both ship-to-shore and yard-handling capacity, improve vessel turnaround times and enable the utilisation of an additional 1,300 metres of berth space. This will increase HIP's total container quay length to nearly two kilometres.

The expansion will also see the container yard enlarged by 30 percent, providing additional space to handle growing cargo volumes and support the port's long-term objective of increasing annual container-handling capacity to two million TEUs.

HIP Chief Operations Officer Tommy Yang said the investments were being carefully aligned with projected growth and customer demand.