The Port of Colombo recorded a 16.2% growth for the 1st quarter 2018 over same quarter last year In container handling according to Alphaliner Monthly 2018.
Among container Ports worldwide, Colombo Growth rate is second only to the Port of Singapore which has recorded 16.5% growth over 2017. It is also a very significant achievement when compared against the Port of Colombo’s 2017 figures with 8.3% growth of 2017.
With this growth, the Port of Colombo has leaped ahead of many other Asian Ports, Major European Ports and Dubai as well.
According to Alphaliner global port rankings the top container ports such as Singapore marked 16.5% ranking number one, the Port of Colombo marked 16.2% at number two, Port of Xiamen – (China) 11.6% at number three, Antwerp (Belgium),10.7% at number four and Ningbo – Zhoushan (China),10.4% ranked at number five.
Recently the three terminal operators at the Port of Colombo; the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) under SLPA, the South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT) and the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) reached into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to operate collectively to promote the Port of Colombo.
Further, through the new agreement, the terminals will also be able to promote the Port of Colombo collectively and collaboratively in the arena of international maritime business.
Under the leadership of Minister of Ports and Shipping Mahinda Samarasinghe, and instructions by the Chairman of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake the positive increase at SLPA controlled terminals and especially the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) is reasoned towards direct and straight forward decisions.
The recognition of credibility towards the management has encouraged the employees of SLPA to contribute towards efficient service along with collaborative support by all parties and stake holders engaged in the port operations to keep SLPA’s productivity at a steadily and sustainably increasing rate. Creating history, the Port of Colombo for the first time has recorded 6.2 million container operations in 2017.
The Drewry Port Connectivity Index at its most recent release had ranked the Port of Colombo as the 13th best Connectivity Port in the world for the 4th quarter 2017, up by five places from its previous positioning of ranks. According to the rankings the Port of Colombo is also the top best connectivity port in South Asia.
For its dedicated performance to up lift the position of the Port of Colombo in the world maritime map, Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) was awarded the Ports Authority of the Year Award by the Global Ports Forum (GPF) in 2018.