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Friday Dec 13, 2024
Monday, 10 September 2018 01:43 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Chairman Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake on an inspection tour at the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT)
The Port of Colombo has been ranked as the world’s fastest growing port from among the top 30 container ports for the first half of 2018.
In container handling, the Port of Colombo recorded a 15.6% growth for the first half of 2018 according to Alphaliner Monthly 2018. This the first time in history the Port of Colombo reached this rank. With this growth, the Port of Colombo has leaped ahead of many other Asian ports, major European ports and Dubai.
According to Alphaliner global port rankings, the top container growth ports such as Singapore marked 11.6%, ranking second, Guangzhou 8.6% establishing itself in third, Antwerp (Belgium) 8.3% in fourth and the Port of Xiamen – (China) 7.6% in fifth.
The Alphaliner that makes the analysis is the first-choice knowledge base used by many port authorities’ terminal operators, logistics companies, shippers, research companies and banks and other financial institutions.
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 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to operate collectively to promote the Port of Colombo.
Under the new collective agreement, it is expected to minimise the total turnaround time of all container vessels. Further, through the new agreement, 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 Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and instructions of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Chairman Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake, the positive increase at SLPA-controlled terminals and especially the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) is reasoned towards direct and straightforward decisions.
The recognition of credibility towards the management has encouraged the employees of SLPA to contribute towards an efficient service along with the support of all parties and stakeholders 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 fourth quarter of 2017, up by five places from its previous rank. According to the rankings, the Port of Colombo is also the top best connectivity port in South Asia.
For its dedicated performance to uplift the position of the Port of Colombo on the world maritime map, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) was awarded the Ports Authority of the Year Award by the Global Ports Forum (GPF) in 2018.
