Even throughout the festival season, Colombo Port is operating normally, according to Upul Jayathissa, Managing Director of the Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA). The three terminal operators of the Colombo Port, according to the Sri Lanka Port Authority, convened a news conference yesterday to clarify the status of port operations. Upul Jayatissa, Managing Director of SLPA, Romesh David, Chief Executive Officer of South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT), and Jack Huang, Director/ CEO of Colombo International Container Terminals (CICT), attended the news conference to give an update on the port’s operations.
Romesh David and Director/ CEO of Colombo International Container Terminals speaking to the customers and the maritime community, both in Sri Lanka and around the word, South Asia particularly, reassured that the operations in the Port of Colombo are functioning at normal levels.
“We did have some challenges. With respect to inter-terminal transfers. Those are largely over, behind us now. In fact on the basis of our volume, last year was best ever, the Port of Colombo did and this year we have grown in the first quarter even more than what we did last year about 6% across the board,” CEO of SAGT said.
“The message from the Port is we continue to operate. There have been some challenges. But these are no different to what is being experienced in transshipment ports across the world,” he added.
CEO of CICT Jack Huang said despite Sri Lanka is going through a political and economic crisis, CICT continues to provide uninterrupted services at the same level of productivity all customers are used to.
“We do not face any power outages and the initial impact on the ITT connectivity due to fuel supply was quickly overcome by the combined effort of all three terminals.” CICT CEO also affirmed that the Colombo Port is functioning normal and said that his team has shown resilience in these challenging times. He said he has full confidence that Port of Colombo will reinforce its position as a reliable service harbor in the region.
