Berthing delays lead to vessels bypassing Colombo
The Colombo Port is losing its competitiveness as vessels bypass Colombo due to delays in turnaround time and the lax attitude of related government agencies involved in clearing containers that have been piling up, directly affecting Sri Lanka’s main transshipment business at the port.
Shipping industry officials pointed out that currently there is a berthing delay of two to three days since there is no capacity and only few berths available as a result of which vessels bypass Colombo Port.
The argument that imports are getting delayed is not genuine, it was noted whereas the main reason for the congestion of the ships is due to the availability of only three deep draft berths at the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT).
With the East Container Terminal not yet fully operational, congestion builds up as they are currently fixing the Rail mounted Gantry Cranes but these cannot be used since the yard is still not ready.
Ships’ operations are an expensive business and if the delay is extraordinary then they may opt to call at ports other than Colombo like India and Singapore. “We are losing our competitive advantage,” an official noted.
The Colombo Port achieved 7.8 million TEUs in 2024 but with the West Container Terminal (WCT) and the East Container Terminal (ECT) commencing operations without hindrance this year the expectation is that the port would be capable of achieving 8.5 million TEUs.
Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Chairman Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe said a number of ships that call decided to go to other places since they are getting delayed but that is not bypassing and it gives a wrong impression because there are lots of ships that don’t call Colombo.
He noted, “I’m counting on the West Terminal to start operations by end February so they can add 1 million TEUs and by early July ECT can add 1.5 million TEUs annually.”
In addition, with the elevated highway becoming operation by around May/April then the cleared containers will be able to get out of the Colombo port without hampering the port operations, the Chairman said.
He pointed out that with more than 70 per cent of the yard was filled with containers so the productivity goes down. And with the demand increasing since the Red Sea crisis it is important to provide the required capacity, he said.
Container Transport Owners Association President Sanath Manjula representing 850 fleet owners said they had informed the Director General of Customs regarding the congestion previously as well and pointed out that it was only after they had stated they would carry out a strike action that the matter was taken up at the President’s level.
Mr. Manjula pointed out that by not carrying out the business operation of transshipment volumes then they will lose this business.
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