Colombo terminal annual volume soars 28pc to two million TEU in 2016

Time:2017-02-03 Browse:245 Author:RISINGSUN
COLOMBO International Container Terminals (CICT) saw its throughput rise 28 per cent year on year to two million TEU in 2016,its second full year of operation.

The company said ultra large containerships and very large containerships contributed 70 per cent to the volumes achieved last year.

The higher volumes handled by CICT contributed to the overall throughput of the port of Colombo increasing by an estimated 11 per cent in 2016, Maritime in Sri Lanka reported.

CICT general manager, commercial and marketing, Tissa Wickramasinghe, was quoted as saying: "It must be emphasized that this historic achievement of two million TEU was made possible mainly by the synergies developed through our parent company China Merchants Port Holdings (CMPH).

"The ability to access the CMPH global network was the key factor in gaining and attracting new transhipment volumes to the port of Colombo. With the introduction of new services and new shipping lines, CICT has set the trend for the port of Colombo to stave off international competition for the highly sensitive and volatile transhipment cargo, in a depleted global shipping market."