The Colombo Port is always in the news for the wrong reasons. More than 300 container trucks loaded with cargo are waiting within its premises due to a clearance delay, according to a report we published yesterday. The Container Transport Vehicle Owners’ Association has urged the government to take action to eliminate the port delays forthwith. It has warned that there will be a shortage of essential commodities soon if delays persist. Additional expenditure incurred by the truck operators due to port delays will be passed on to the public, the association has said. One of the reasons for these delays is said to be the inflow of disaster relief materials that need to be cleared on a priority basis. However, the Colombo Port experiences delays even when there is no influx of disaster relief.
Port delays take a heavy toll on exports as well. As we have pointed out in a previous comment, quoting a former Navy officer, the Coast Guard personnel are qualified to handle Customs operations and they can be called in to help ease port congestion. The government should seriously consider doing so.
In January 2025, protracted delays in the Colombo Port jolted the government into purportedly devising ways and means of doing away with them. But the problem is far from over. The government made use of the delays to have 323 red-flagged containers released via the green channel without Customs checks. The possibility of racketeers making the most of the current situation to have containers carrying contraband green-channelled cannot be ruled out. The Opposition, the media, trade unions and port workers must remain vigilant to thwart such a move.
Delays drive away major shipping lines. It has been reported that several international shipping lines have opted to bypass the Colombo Port, which is facing escalating congestion due to various factors related mainly to capacity and efficiency.
What the NPP government and the top port officials must realise is that the Colombo Port is not the only girl on the beach, as it were. India’s newly built Vizhinjam port is becoming a major attraction for international shippers who are averse to delays. In global logistics, shipping lines place very high value on on-time delivery, reliability and efficient operations.
Vizhinjam poses numerous challenges to the Colombo Port. The government must take cognisance of this reality and make a serious effort to enhance the efficiency and capacity of the Colombo Port to retain the transhipment traffic historically routed via Colombo. There is a strong possibility of shipping lines rerouting feeder services away from Colombo to Vizhinjam, adversely impacting Colombo’s network role, as shipping experts have warned.
Vizhinjam has several key advantages over Colombo. It advertises itself as a deep-water port with a 24 m natural draft, which enables it to accommodate ultra-large container vessels without dredging; its proximity to the main east–west shipping route helps vessels to call without significant deviation, reducing voyage time and costs. Automation, modern cranes, faster turnaround times, enhanced operational efficiency and attractiveness to shipping lines are other advantages India’s new port has over Colombo.
Experts have urged Sri Lanka to adopt a viable mitigation strategy to face competition from Vizhinjam effectively. The Colombo Port has to enhance its efficiency, cost proposition, capacity, and service differentiation, while strengthening its role as a comprehensive logistics and maritime hub rather than a pure transshipment stop, they have pointed out. Sadly, successive governments have ignored expert opinion and done precious little to retain the Colombo Port’s competitiveness, much less prepare it to face future challenges. They have only adopted piecemeal remedies and, worse, turned the premier port into a playground for rival global powers.
The incumbent government has failed to make a difference despite its rhetoric. If strategic modernisation and operational improvements are not effected to the Colombo Port urgently to enable it to eliminate delays and enhance its efficiency and the quality of its service significantly-à-vis the emerging rival facilities in the region, it will run the risk of diminishing its relevance.
-819510.jpg)
