Colombo port gets congested

The Colombo Port is currently facing congestion with delays in turnaround time causing ships to bypass as a result of which there could be a drop in the number of vessel arrivals.

Sources at the port stated that there is congestion in the outer harbour since there are insufficient deep draft boats in the port resulting in continuous delays in berthing due to the inadequacy of capacity to accommodate big ships.

On average about 12-14 vessels call at the Colombo port daily and now with larger ships calling over, the port is constrained due to having only three berths in one terminal for deep draft vessels. At any given time only two large vessels and one small one could be accommodated.

Since the past two months vessels are facing congestion and berthing is being delayed by one or two days, which means ships calling at the Colombo port are compelled to sit outside the port, sources said.

The ships are said to be holding their cargo for about another two weeks in other ports before arriving in Colombo.

It is learnt that the number of ship arrivals have dropped and this would allow for most of Sri Lanka’s competitors in the region to gain an advantage over the Colombo port.

The only terminal currently capable of accommodating the larger or deep draft vessels is the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT). The East Container Terminal (ECT) can accommodate such vessels with its 18 metre depth but is not yet operational.