The harbour is flanked by high cliffs on the seaside and therefore it is well protected from the monsoon
winds. The sheltered waters of the harbour is capable of accommodating a large number of vessels and offer
water depths that is suitable for the movement and berthing of small, medium sized and large deep drafted
cargo ships, oil tankers and even super tankers.
The harbour infrastructures include roads, railway facilities linking and providing access to and from
other regions of the country. Pipe borne water service is provided to many parts of the port. At present
the SLPA is in complete administrative control and development of the port and the environs except for the
naval base located in Ostenberg Ridge and pockets of land in the town and China Bay occupied by the Sri
Lanka Army and the Sri Lanka Air Force. In 1983 some 6,000 acres of land mainly government owned land
bounded in the North by the Dambulla - Trincomalee highway, in the west by the Palampattar water way in the
South and the East by the sea up to the Southern edge of the Yard Cove had been vested with the SLPA.
Trincomalee is a daylight port. Ship movements are restricted to the period 0600 hours to 1800 hours.
Pilotage is compulsory for all vessels entering or departing from the harbour.
EXISTING PORT FACILITIES
Town Jetty and Muttur Jetty
In Trincomalee town the SLPA has constructed the Town Jetty (50m x 10m) with depths of 2.5 m and in
Muttur a town in the Southern reaches of the Koddiyar Bay a wooden decked steel jetty (210m x 3m)
(presently been renovated and strengthened by the SLPA) with depths of 3m for the passenger traveling
between the Trincomalee town and Muttur. The passenger vessel service, which plies between the two towns,
is too operated by the SLPA.
Cod Bay
There are three installations in this bay: Mud Cove Jetty, a Cement Plant and the Fisheries Wharf.
Mud Cove Jetty
This jetty, which has a berthing length of 20m and depths of 5m, is used by the SLPA for servicing and the
repair of their berthing tugs, Tanac tugs and launches. The land area behind the jetty houses a workshop,
a store, an office block and a 100T slipway.
Cement Plant
Tokyo Cement Co (Lanka) ltd. has two crushing, mixing and bagging plants producing 900,000T of cement
annually. Clinker, Gypsum and Pozzolana are brought by 12,000-15,000 Dwt bulk carriers alongside a dolphin
berth with a depth of 10m and the material discharged on to a conveyor by grabs operated by ship's gear.
The cement mill is operated with electricity obtained from the main grid. Standby generators are maintained
at the mill to ensure production in case of a power failure.
Fisheries Wharf
The Ceylon Fishery Harbour Corporation has a wharf length of 175m with alongside depth of 5m. The water
area is sufficient to moor 600 multi-day fishing boats. The shore facilities comprise a defunct ice plant
and cold rooms, a workshop and a 150T slipway.
China Bay
Four port related installations are in China Bay: Ashroff Jetty, Trincomalee Tea Administration Wharf
(TTA), Ceylon Jetty and the Petroleum installation.
Ashroff Jetty
The Government wanted to transfer some of the bulk and break bulk cargo currently unloaded at Colombo port
to other ports. SLPA constructed a multi purpose berth called Ashraff Quay at a cost of Rs.1.3 billion
using SLPA funds. They celebrated the commencement of quay operation in August 2002 with the presence of
the Prime Minister. This quay has alongside water depth of 13m and length of 253m, which is sufficient for
multi-purpose vessels of up to 40,000 DWT to be accommodated. The bulkheads of the jetty are 98m long and
have water depths of 9m to accommodate smaller vessels such as coasters. A roadway of 1.5km in length
connecting the jetty to the main road is presently under construction. No shore facilities exist at this
jetty co-ordinates of the new berth is longitude 810 – 13’E & latitude 080-33’N.
TTA Wharf
The TTA wharf (190m x 3m) is old and the structure needs extensive repairs. The depth at the wharf is 3m.
The yard has 5 warehouses of total area 6,000 m2 requiring minor repairs. The wharf and the office space
are at present used by the SLPA Navigation Division as their head quarters.
Ceylon Jetty
The Ceylon Jetty is 100m long and 10m wide. The depth at the end of the jetty is 3m. The jetty had been
designed to take highway loading. It was originally used as a lighter landing point. Since of late the
jetty is underutilized.
Petroleum Installation
The installation is owned by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and presently on lease to the Lanka Indian
Oil Company. The facilities at the installation are the Oiling Berth, the Boom Jetty, the Lighter Berth
and 15 tanks each with a capacity of 12,500T.
The Oiling Berth
Oiling Berth is made of three concrete dolphin like structures joined to each other and the whole joined
to the land by a steel cat walk in the form of a T. The depth at the berth is 10m and could accommodate a
loaded 30,000 Dwt tanker The tanker is moored to it with the help of two mooring buoys located on either
side of the berth and to the dolphin structure. The fuel is discharged to the storage through a 300 mm
pipeline. The berth also provides bunkers to merchant vessels that call at Trincomalee, naval vessels and
the berthing tugs of the SLPA. The average annual supply of bunkers ranges from 1,500 – 2000 tons.
Boom Jetty
This jetty is a concrete structure 100m x 10m with 7m depths. The jetty is used to moor small craft.
Lighter Berth
This is a steel jetty 10m in width and length 350m. The depth at its extremity is 11m. The structure is in
disrepair.
In addition to the three port structures the Lanka Indian Oil Company has a storage facility of 83 tanks
outside the port premises with a capacity of approximately 1 million tons.
Malay Cove
The wheat milling complex is the only port related activity in Malay Cove.
Prima (Ceylon) Ltd
In Malay Cove, Prima (Ceylon) Ltd. owns a 200m x 8m piled jetty at depths of 13m. The jetty is connected
to the quay by 15m wide and 15m long bridge. The main jetty could accommodate bulk wheat carriers up to
60,000 Dwt. Which are moored to two dolphins on either side of the jetty. The inner quay is designed for
5,000 Dwt, crafts. On land an 11,000,000T capacity wheat milling plant and silos are located. Presently
expansion is underway with the construction of additional silos.
Clappenburg Bay
Clappenburg Bay has the Clappenburg Wharf as the only port related installation.
Clappenburg Wharf
This is a gravity type structure of length 32m with water depths of 3.7m. It was used originally to berth
lighters bringing food cargo from vessels moored in midstream in the bay. Seven transit sheds of floor
area 13,000 m2 are located behind the wharf. The wharf and the warehouses are at present in the control
of the Sri Lanka Army.
Future Investments & Potential
With the peace talks in progress, potential foreign investors have been scouting around the waterfront
area in recent months. One of these examples is a US$220 million, Coke Oven Plant cum Power Plant proposal
submitted by a foreign investor.
The plant will reduce 0.758 million tons of gross metallurgical coke on wet basis annually with
simultaneous co-generation of 110 MW electrical power. The plant is proposed to be located near a port,
which will be advantageous for the direct transportation of coal & coke between port and plant,
employing dedicated conveyor system.
The investment that has drawn the most attention is the agreement to lease part of the Ceylon Petroleum
Corporation oil tank farm in China Bay to the Indian Oil Corporation. The deal was signed in New Delhi in
June 2002.
A 60 MW barge-mounted power plant project was proposed to ease the shortage of electricity generation
capacity. The plant, which is a similar plant situated at the northern part of Colombo port, was considered
to be located at Mud Cove. A foreign firm has shown interest in putting up a fertilizer bagging plant for
re-exportation. Another manufacturer had an idea to set up a plant to bag cement and sell it in the local
market.
Trincomalee has huge potential for industries because of the existence of the natural harbour and blessed
water depth along with unpopulated land area. It is anticipated that this sort of private circle’s
interests to Trincomalee harbour and its waterfront will continue as peace progresses. |
