Colombo has a long history as a port city. Its story is an unlikely one: Colombo’s harbour is not naturally good BUT it’s a port that was considered a strategic location in British imperial shipping routes. So here’s the key distinction: “Most ports have poor harbours, and many fine harbours see few ships.” (Murphey in Brides of the Sea1989) A harbour is a physical concept but the port is economic. Herein was Colombo’s strength…economics and its proximity to major shipping networks.
The creation of Colombo’s breakwater was considered a breakthrough in port technology and by the late nineteenth century it was one of the great modern ports that emerged in Asia.