Following the handling of its 7 millionth TEU on December 31, 2018, the Port of Colombo, Sri Lanka, held a special ceremony at the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) to celebrate the record-breaking landmark.
The event was attended by Sagala Rathnayake, Hon. Minister of Ports, Shipping and Southern Development, as well as senior officials from the Sri Lanka Ports Authority’s (SLPA) three main terminals: JCT, the South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT) and the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT).
Speaking at the ceremony, SLPA Chairman Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake stated that the achievement was “primarily possible because of the clientele of the Port of Colombo”.
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In addition to this, he thanked the management and staff of JCT, SAGT and CICT for their contribution to reaching this milestone.
Dissanayake said: “The Port of Colombo, having handled one million TEUs in 1995, took nine years to handle 2 million TEU in 2004.
Credit: Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA)
“Having handled 4 million TEU in 2010, it took 5 years to handle 5 million TEU in 2015. In the year 2017, the port handled 6 million TEU, and it took 2 years to handle that extra million.
“But what is unique is that this year, the Port of Colombo handled 7 million TEU, and that 1 million took only 1 year. By the end of this year, the transhipment volumes of the Port of Colombo have increased by 19.3%.”
It has also been suggested by the SPLA that there is a present need to increase capacity, in order to compete with other ports and address changes taking place within the shipping industry.
Credit: Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA)
Sagala Rathnayake, speaking at the occasion about attempts to establish democracy, commented: “If there is no confidence in judiciary and if there is no confidence in the institutions, these industries cannot grow as then there would be no confidence in the country.”
The minister stressed that the present government of Sri Lanka is working to implement policies and capitalize on the growth of the Port of Colombo.
In the first half of 2018, the Port of Colombo was ranked as the number one port in the world for container growth, the first time it has reached the top of a global maritime ranking.
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