信德海事网-专业海事信息咨询服务平台 登录 | 注册 [ 设为首页 ] [ 加入收藏 ] 中文版 ENGLISH WeChat Mobile --> --> ENGLISH   >   PORT --> Hambantota Port to be a Multipurpose Port 2021-08-05 13:54 By： xinde marine news 分享： --> --> --> 评论 --> --> The Hambantota port is located in a small fisheries village called Hambantota, in Sri Lanka which is known by many worldwide due to the limelight given by western mainstream media with regard to the “debt trap” diplomacy narrative.   The port itself is a unique economic pivot to relink the ancient maritime silk route hence it was prioritized by China's Belt & Road Initiative. The name of the city Hambantota was derived from the Sinhala word "Samban" which is known as a relatively flat-bottomed wooden boat and "Thota" meaning "Port". However, due to the rise of conflicts between countries over the land silk routeconnecting ancient Alexandria with China, a maritime silk road was created as an alternative towards the land-based silk route.   The ancient maritime trade silk route flourished between the 2nd century BCE to 15th century AD and during this era a port in Hambantota area was known as a center linking this maritime silk route.It is said that the Chinese and the Arab's used to stopover at Hambantota region when transporting trade by the sea.    Today this sea route is called the 'East-West Shipping Route' which is located at about 10 nautical miles from Hambantota Port and annually around 40,000 ships use this route passing the Southern Sri Lankan port city.    Since the Sri Lankan government was interested in developing an international port in Hambantota for decades, a Canadian company SNC- Lavalin concluded a feasibility study of the Hambantota Port in 2003 at a cost of US$ 1.5 million and concluded that a port at Hambantota was feasible. Similarly, back then the SNC- Lavalin was interested in build–own–operate–transfer arrangement for the proposed Hambantota Po