SLPA-run terminals fully occupied during seasonal holidays

Tuesday, 17 April 2018 00:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

With 100% attendance of operations and all other supportive staff during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year season, and especially on 13 and 14 April, the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) and the Unity Container Terminal (UCT) of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) were competitive and successful in keeping all berths fully occupied. On 13 April, JCT and UCT together handled 7459TEUs, whilst the two terminals recorded handling of 6259 TEUs on 14 April. With the deployment of 20 STS cranes at JCT, and 18 at UCT, SLPA has operated 05 mother vessels and 08 feeder vessels during the two days.

JCT handled 2,010,702 TEUS out of the total volume of 6,209,068 TEUs at the Port of Colombo in 2017. Compared to Q1 2017, JCT has recorded a growth of 15.3% during Q1 2018.

The Drewry Port Connectivity Index, at its most recent release, ranked the Port of Colombo as the 13th best connectivity Port in the world for Q4 2017, up by five places from its previous position. According to the same rankings, the Port of Colombo is also the top connectivity port in South Asia.

SLPA recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the terminals of the Port of Colombo to operate collectively and promote the Port of Colombo.

Under the leadership of Ports And Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, and on instructions by the SLPA Chairman Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake, the positive increase at SLPA-controlled terminals, and especially JCT, is credited to direct and straightforward decisions reached by the Management, that have also won employee recognition and credibility for such implementations. JCT, owned and operated by SLPA, has expressed steady growth of operating volumes since October 2017.

The recognition of the management’s credibility has encouraged the SLPA employees to dedicatedly contribute towards efficient service, along with collaborative support from all parties and stakeholders engaged in the port operations, to keep SLPA’s productivity at a steadily and sustainably increasing rate. The Port of Colombo for the first time has recorded 6.2 million container operations in December last year.