Red Sea turmoil brings a transshipment bonanza for Colombo

The Colombo Port was receiving increased transshipment container volumes as major shipping lines are rerouting their ships following the recent attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) Chairman Keith D. Bernard told journalists in Colombo on Tuesday (09).

Bernard said many container ships were now taking the longer route around Africa instead of going through the Suez Canal and these ships pass the Colombo Port.

He said the number of containers handled by the SLPA-owned terminal had increased by around 80 percent recently.

The SLPA Chairman said the Port of Colombo was targeting around 7 million containers or TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2024.

In 2023, it handled 6.9 million TEUs, up from 6.86 million TEUs in 2022, he said.

The capacity at the Colombo Port is about 8 million TEUs, he said.

This will increase to 8.5 million TEUs this year when the new East Container Terminal comes into operation this year, he said. (RK)