[10][11] As of May 2024, the port has transformed into a busy transshipment hub in the Indian Ocean, specifically for vehicles, facilitating a turnover of 700,000 units per month.

Hambantota is poised to increase its involvement in the bunkering and oil refining industries, and it has the potential of becoming a significant hub for cruise activities.

[20] It recommended that a joint venture between the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and a private consortium be set up to undertake the project under a build–own–operate–transfer arrangement.

[23] The Rajapaksa administration approached both the United States and India with the Ramboll study and sought funding for the Hambantota Port Project.

[10][27] Sri Lanka is situated along the key shipping route between the Malacca Straits and the Suez Canal, which links Asia and Europe.

[28][30]The Sri Lankan government contracted with China Merchants Group, one of that country's state-owned enterprises, to build the port.

The Chinese government financed phase one with a 15-year commercial loan from China Exim, which lent US$306.7 million (85% of the estimated total cost) while the Sri Lanka Ports Authority bore the rest.

[38] Jetliner, a Sri Lanka Navy passenger ship that sailed from Galle was ceremonially berthed and workers unloaded the first consignment of international cargo from Myanmar from the vessel Seruwila.

[41] After the National United Front won the 2015 presidential and parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited China to solve the issue.

[17]: 96 The agreement was delayed for several months because of concerns that the port could be used for military purposes and opposition from trade unions and political parties, which called it a sellout of Sri Lankan national assets to China.

[47] India and the United States raised concerns that Chinese control of the Hambantota port could harm their interests in the Indian Ocean.

As a result the nine-storey administration building of the port, the Hambantota Maritime Centre became 95% occupied and in just one year under the new management the port made a 136% increase in the volume of ro-ro vessels handled and even diversified its services to include other port-related activities such as container handling, general cargo, passenger, bunkering, bulk terminal, gas and project cargo.

[53] In February 2021, the Sri Lankan foreign minister Dinesh Gunawardena said the lease of the Hambantota port to China was a mistake made by the previous government, after reports that Colombo was revisiting the agreement.

[54] Writing in 2023, academic and former UK diplomat Kerry Brown states that China's relationship to the Hambantota port has become the opposite of the theorized debt-trap modus operandi.

It is set to play a larger role in boosting the bunkering and oil refining industries, and it shows promise as a potential center for cruise activities.

Tissa Wickramasinghe, the Chief Operating Officer of HIPG in Sri Lanka, conveyed contentment with the advancement of the port, affirming that it is successfully achieving its objectives and serving its intended purposes.

In future, all Hyundai vehicles made in South Korea, China and India will be transshipped through Hambantota 15,000 units a month once more yard space is available.

[63] In April 2017, making a historic landmark in Sri Lanka, the world's largest pure car and truck carrier (PCTC), the MV Hoegh Trigger, arrived on her maiden call at the Port of Hambantota.

[67][68] The government and Navy Commander Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne were heavily criticized by civil activists and the media over an assault on a journalist during the protest.