The Port of Colombo is ranked as the world’s No. 1 container growth port 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 over corresponing period last year, according to Alphaliner Monthly 2018.
It is also a very significant achievement as it is the first time in history the Port of Colombo reaches the top of a global maritime ranking. With this growth, Port of Colombo has leaped ahead many other Asian Ports, Major European Ports and Dubai as well.
According to Alphaliner global port rankings, the top container growth ports such as Singapore marked 11.6% ranking number two, Guangzhou 8.6% number three, Antwerp (Belgium) 8.3% number four and Port of Xiamen – (China) 7.6% number five.
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 Sri Lanka Ports Authority (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.
The Port of Colombo recorded 6.2 million container operations last year.
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 2017, up by five places from its previous positioning of ranks. According to the rankings the Port of Colombo is also the top best connectivity port in South Asia.
For its dedicated performance to up lift the position of the Port of Colombo in the world maritime map, Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) was awarded the Ports Authority of the Year Award by the Global Ports Forum (GPF) in 2018.