The Cabinet of Ministers approved a revised strategy for procuring tug vessels to support operations at the Colombo Port, considering the progress of the new terminal, which is expected to be completed between mid and late this year. Accordingly, it opted to procure two tug vessels on a rental basis for the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) for Colombo Port operations after failing to complete the two previous procurement processes.
The proposal, submitted by Transport, Highways, Port and Civil Aviation Minister Bimal Rathnayake, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Initially, in October 2022, the then Cabinet approved inviting international competitive bids to procure an 80-ton bollard pull tug vessel for the SLPA. For this, four bids were received, and the Cabinet-appointed procurement committee recommended awarding the contract to the lowest responsive bidder.
However, the imposition of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on 1 January 2024 increased the procurement cost, and subsequent negotiations with the recommended supplier to secure the vessel on a loan basis were unsuccessful. This led to the discontinuation of the original procurement process.
Concurrently, the SLPA proposed reassessing the need for the vessels based on the construction timeline of the new terminal. Taking these factors into account, the Cabinet approved completing the ongoing process to rent two 80-ton bollard pull tug vessels to meet immediate operational requirements whilst approving the initiation of a new procurement process to acquire two 70-ton bollard pull twin azimuth stern drive harbour tugs, which are required for operations at the new terminal scheduled to commence mid-2025.
