CICT voted Best Container Terminal in Asia under 4 million TEUs

• Beats terminals in China, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines to win coveted AFLAS award

The CMPort managed Colombo International Container Terminals (CICT), the only deep water terminal in the Port of Colombo, has been voted the Best Container Terminal (under 4 million TEUs) in Asia at the prestigious Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain (AFLAS) Awards hosted and organised by Asia Cargo News.

CICT Head of Marketing and Commercial Catriona Jayasundera (left) receives the award in Singapore 

To win the coveted award, CICT competed with the top eight shortlisted terminals in the category, attracting worldwide attention to the capacity, capability and service levels it offers global shipping lines calling on Colombo.

The other terminals in the shortlist for the award were Busan New Container Terminal (South Korea), Da Chan Bay Terminal One (China), Dalian International Container Terminal (China), Fuzhou International Container Terminal (China), Jakarta International Container Terminal (Indonesia), Laem Chabang International Terminal (Thailand) and Manila International Container Terminal (Philippines).

The four finalists in the category were CICT, Busan New Container Terminal (BNCT), Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) and Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).

“We are naturally delighted to win this award, particularly because the winners were chosen not by a panel of judges but through the votes of customers and other stakeholders,” CICT CEO Ray Ren said. “From inception, our focus has been on the development of the Port of Colombo into a leader in the region through enhanced capacity, greater efficiency, innovation and eco-friendly operations, and this award is an affirmation that CICT has achieved its goal in the relatively short period.”

CICT Head of Marketing and Commercial Catriona Jayasundera commented: “It was indeed a creditable achievement by any standard, given that CICT has been in operation for only three years.” She said CICT thanks its customers and all stakeholders who had voted in favour of CICT in the global poll for this award and for the confidence placed in the company. “We dedicate this prestigious award to ‘Team CICT’ whose commitment, dedication and team work made it possible,” she added. “We also thank the SLPA for the critical role played in providing the supportive common user services efficiently, without which this achievement would not have been possible.”

CICT reported a throughput of 2 million TEUs for the 12 months ending 31 December 2016, achieving impressive YoY growth of 28% in volume and enabling the Port of Colombo to register overall incremental growth in the three consecutive years since CICT came into operation. The incremental volume handled by CICT was one of the contributors to the overall throughput of the Port of Colombo growing by an estimated 11% in 2016.

CICT is the first and currently the only deep water terminal in South Asia equipped with facilities to handle the largest vessels afloat. Over the past two and a half years, CICT has brought some of the largest vessels plying the Asia-Europe routes to Colombo, including MSC Maya (at 19,224 TEU the world’s largest container vessel), the MV Mogens Maersk (18,300 TEU), MSC New York (16,652 TEU), CMA CGM Marco Polo (16,020 TEU), YML YM Wondrous, Edith Maersk and EMC Thalassa Hellas (each 14,000 plus TEUs) and their sister vessels, which are all regular callers at CICT.

CICT has been responsible for several firsts in service innovation and eco-friendly operations in the Port of Colombo. In early 2016, the company launched a $ 10 million program to convert its fleet of diesel operated rubber-tyred-gantry cranes to electricity driven rubber-tyred gantry cranes (E-RTGs) which have zero carbon emissions. CICT is also the first terminal in the Port of Colombo to introduce electronic boat notes, breaking new ground in efforts to reduce paper in export documentation, as well as the first to launch a mobile app for the purpose of keeping track of containerised cargo at the terminal.

In 2016 CICT won the prestigious ‘Highly Commended’ award in the ‘Port Operator’ category at Lloyd’s List Middle East and Indian Subcontinent Awards, and was cited as one of the factors in its parent company – China Merchants Port Holdings (CMPH) – being adjudged Port Operator of the Year at the Lloyd’s List 2016 Global Awards.