The Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka has witnessed an increase in transshipments by 29.1 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in February, marking the third consecutive month of growth.
This expansion was fuelled by recurrent interruptions in the Red Sea, according to the port.
Transshipment volumes hit 528,348 TEU in February. Since December of last year, the Port of Colombo has seen a double-digit rise in transshipment volumes.
The port’s transshipment volumes increased by 10.4 per cent YoY in December last year to 515,404 TEU and by 25.5 per cent YoY in January this year to 562,527 TEU.
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The entire container throughput at the Port of Colombo increased by 32.9 per cent YoY to 646,407 TEU in February.
Transshipment volumes accounted for a significant 82 per cent of overall throughput. Import container (loaded) volumes increased by 56.9 per cent YoY to 43,201 TEU, while export container (laden) volumes increased by 14.5 per cent YoY to 25,169 TEU.
Meanwhile, re-stowing volumes at the port increased by 133.4 per cent YoY to 25,962 TEU in the month.
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The port’s only fully operational deep container terminal, Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), handled 287,539 TEU during the year, up 24.1 per cent from the previous year, followed by the SLPA-managed Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) and its partially operational East Container Terminal (ECT), which handled 212,115 TEUs in February, representing a 69.1 per cent YoY increase.
The container volumes handled by South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT) increased by 13.4 per cent YoY to 146,753 TEU during the month.
334 ships called in the Port of Colombo this month, up from 307 the previous year. This comprises 303 container cargo ships, four conventional ships, and 12 more cargo ships.
