In keeping with Ports, Shipping and Southern Development Minister Sagala Ratnayaka’s promise to install night navigation at the Trincomalee Port before the end of this year, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) says it has successfully completed the project.The Trincomalee Harbour, a natural deep-water harbor is considered the fifth largest natural harbor in the world.Night navigation was installed at the Trincomalee harbor with the assistance of Japan, a long-standing strategic partner of Sri Lanka. Japan helped the project with JPY 1 billion grant.“This enables the Trincomalee harbour to handle deep drafts and doubles its capacity. This also makes the port operational 24 hours,” Minister Ratnayaka said, commenting on the outcome of the project.
“This would not have been possible without the invaluable assistance of Japan. I extend my sincere gratitude to them,” Ratnayaka added. During the implementation of the project, two 500 KW generators have been installed at the jetty and the yard of the Trincomalee port in order to facilitate night navigation. While Japan provided the light equipment, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) invested close to Rs. 80 million to construct radar towers.A senior SLPA official said Japan also provided the Trincomalee port with a pilot boat aiming to improve efficiency of the port. Pilot boat is a type of boat used to transport maritime pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting.