Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port, Commercial deep-water port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka

Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port is a deep-water port at Hambantota on Sri Lanka's southern coast, opened in 2010 and now the country's second largest port after Colombo. The photograph shows a large cargo vessel at the quay, its hull in a white upper band and a lighter blue lower band, with small orange and red cylindrical structures and a dark funnel along the deck line. Behind and to the left of the ship stands a long, pale, low industrial building with a flat roof and a blue-trimmed canopy on the flat shoreline.

Construction work started in 2008 with Chinese financing and led to the official opening two years later as the country's second major seaport. In 2017, a 99-year lease agreement with China Merchants Port Holdings took effect, transferring 70 percent of operational control.

The port is officially named after former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, a Hambantota native, and is also called Magampura. In ancient times the harbour was known as Godawaya and served as the main port of the Ruhuna kingdom on the maritime silk route. Today the vehicle transshipment business dominates, with ro-ro vessels handled at the quays.

The facility works around the clock with modern navigation systems and maintains a water depth of 17 meters to receive large ships. Visitor access requires prior approval since this is an active industrial site with strict safety rules.

The site sits near an important crossing point for shipping traffic between Europe and Asia, passed weekly by around 200 large container vessels within sight. Despite modern equipment, container handling volumes remain far below the originally planned capacity of several million units per year.