Port of Colombo handles record breaking 7 millionth TEU
View(s):The Port of Colombo handled its 7 millionth TEU on December 31 and a special function was held at the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) to celebrate the event.
The 7 millionth TEU brought at the Port of Colombo by MV CPO Hamburg of the MSC Line being operated at the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).
The function was graced by Minister of Ports, Shipping and Southern Development Sagala Ratnayake with the participation of the Secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Southern Development and SLPA Chairman – Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake. The 7 millionth TEU was brought by MV CPO Hamburg of the MSC Line.
“The Port of Colombo having handled one million TEUs in 1995, took nine years to handle 02 million TEUs in 2004. Having handled 4 million TEUs in 2010, it took 5 years to handle 5 million TEUs in 2015. In the year 2017, the port handled 6 million TEUs and it took two years to handle that extra million. But what is unique is that in 2018, the Port of Colombo handled 7 million TEUs and that 1 million took only one year. By the end of this year the transshipment volumes of the Port of Colombo has increased by 19.3 per cent,” the Secretary Dr. Dissanayake said, according to a media release issued by the SLPA.
He also stated that in moving forward the present need to increase the capacity, change in the competition dynamics between the ports competing with the Port of Colombo, understand and act according to changes taking place within the shipping lines and the shipping industry should be strategically addressed in time.
Minister Sagala Ratnayake said that helping to establish democracy was absolutely essential to build industries like this to grow. “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,” he said.
He said that the Government is working on the most appropriate and a comprehensive marketing policy for the entire shipping industry of Sri Lanka.
The Port of Colombo was ranked as the world’s No. 1 container growth port among the top 30 container ports for the first half of 2018. With this growth, the Port of Colombo has moved ahead many other Asian ports, major European ports and Dubai as well, the SLPA said.