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‘Ships diverted to India only on 9, 10 May’

31 May 2022

  • SLPA denies reports of ships choosing neighbouring ports over Colombo
  • States that some vessels went to India only for two days due to social unrest
  • Assures port operations now back to normal 
  By Imesh Ranasinghe Shipping lines diverted to India on 9 and 10 May as a “temporary move” due to social unrest in the country, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) said, refuting a Bloomberg report that the Colombo Port has seen a major cargo diversion to India. Speaking to The Morning Business, SLPA Managing Director Upul Jayatissa said that some vessels went to India for services and unloading cargo on 9 and 10 May due to the social unrest in Sri Lanka. “It was just a temporary move to India, but the business is usual as of now,” he added. Last week, Bloomberg reported that Sri Lanka’s political turmoil was prompting some shipping lines to detour to Indian ports instead of calling at Colombo, one of the key supply chain hubs in Asia.  The media report said that the political protests and a lack of fuel have slowed the number of trucks available to transport containers of textiles and other goods between Colombo’s terminals and supply chains, according to freight forwarders and analysts. That’s created a growing backlog of boxes at the port that shipping companies want to avoid, they said. Quoting Christian Roeloffs, the Founder of logistics services platform Container xChange, it said that a steady flow of container volume has headed to India’s ports in the past month. “Colombo has had to witness major cargo diversion to Indian ports,” said Roeloffs. “Given the foreign exchange crunch and fuel scarcity, the ports of Sri Lanka have seen a major setback in trade operations.” However, a joint statement by SLPA, Colombo International Container Terminals (CICT), South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT), and the Ceylon Association of Steamer Agents (CASA) read that uninterrupted services were being offered for shipping lines, with power and fuel being assured by the authorities. It said that inter-terminal trucking and transport for logistics services are prioritised for domestic empty and laden containers, but no transhipment connections are being missed. “Clearance of imports and export shipments are moving at desired levels, notwithstanding delays in the clearance of some import cargoes due to a shortage of foreign currency,” the statement said. According to them, in the first four months of 2022, container volumes grew by 100,356 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) or 4.3%, and transhipment grew 92,099 or 5% from a year ago.  


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