Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) had to suspend its navigation services from the evening of May 9, following the strike by port workers and trade unions. As the operations at Colombo port remain paralysed, Indian ports and terminal operators are stepping forward to claim a share in the transhipment operations and position themselves as a transhipment hub, a role that Colombo port had been playing for years. The latest to make a pitch to the mainline container carriers hit by the developments in the Colombo Port is Visakha Container Terminal Pvt Ltd. “VCTPL has a 1 km quay length with a deep draft of 16 metres plus, along with super post Panamax cranes to handle 3 vessels at a time. Being in closer proximity to Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Bangladesh markets and well connected by rail and road, it could be an excellent network solution for many main line operators like MSC and Maersk that depend on Colombo to service the eastern seaboard of India. India routes around 3 million teus of containers through Colombo Port. In the current scenario, no ships have been able to berth at Colombo Port since Tuesday and ships that have finished loading and unloading operations have not been able to sail out of the port.
