The Port of Colombo, a resourceful port, with a two-millennium legacy has to put its house in order to save its hub status from intense competition from South Indian and regional ports, a ports and shipping industry professional said.
“The clock is fast ticking for a concerted effort to enhance efficiency of operations of the Colombo Port, a revenue spinner to the country,” said Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council Past Chairman and Freight Consultant at Future Logistics, Gehan Kuruppu.
Proposing measures to ease congestion at the Port which is depriving revenue to the country, he said the Sri Lanka Ports Authority should take the initiative to facilitate the core operations of the port and move the container congestion from the port operation area.
“The land allocated at Bloemendhal for container parking should be used without further delay to reduce the traffic at the port premises,” Kuruppu said.
The surge in container volume triggered repeated clearance delays at the Colombo Port this year due to poor operational reasons that was too costly for the port which is striving to maintain its status as reputed port for transshipment business. ‘Work on the proposed logistics centre which is expected to ease congestion at the port should be expedited,” Kuruppu said.
He said despite the Customs automation, 30-40% of the import entries take place manually.
Inter-terminal trucking system, he said, will help enhance port operational efficiency as it facilitates the movement of containers between various terminals within the Port.
The implementation of the proposal to boost the operational efficiency of the port shouldn’t be in fits and starts as seen in the recent past,” Kuruppu said, adding that there has to be continuity to a program for it to yield results. Following the first backlog in clearance this year it was proposed that all clearance related services should be a 24-hour operation. However, Kuruppu said certain interested parties did not collaborate with the idea for personal gain.
He said Customs officials not working on weekends causes delays leading to Port congestion.
Strengthening pre-clearance and the port community system are areas that could boost efficiency of the port operations, he said. The transshipment volumes of the Colombo Port recorded a 5.8 percent year-on-year dip in April this year marking the fourth consecutive month in the segment this year.
The Port of Colombo is Sri Lanka’s principal maritime gateway with a capacity to handle seven million TEUs annually and has a depth of over 18 m (59 ft).
