COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Port of Colombo was ranked the world’s top port with the highest container growth in the first half of 2018, Sri Lanka’s Ports and Shipping Ministry said in a statement.
According to international rating agency Alphaliner, the Port of Colombo has recorded a 15.6-percent growth in container handling for the first half of this year, out of the top 30 global ports.
Alphaliner’s global port rankings show the top container growth ports such as Singapore marked 11.6% to be ranked No.2, Guangzhou with 8.6% at No.3, Antwerp (Belgium) with 8.3% placed in No.4 and Port of Xiamen – (China) with 7.6% growth at No.5. The Alphaliner 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.
“It is a very significant achievement as it is the first time in history the Port of Colombo has reached the top of a global maritime ranking. With this growth, Port of Colombo has leaped ahead many other Asian ports,” the statement said.
The Port of Colombo consists of the Jaya Container Terminal of the state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority, South Asia Gateway Terminal of the John Keells Holdings and Colombo International Container Terminal of China’s CM Ports.
Recently these three terminal operators entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to operate collectively in promoting the Port of Colombo in the international maritime business sphere. The new collective agreement is expected to minimize the total waiting time of all container vessels arriving at the Port of Colombo by allowing vessels to be accommodated at the earliest available terminal.
