Move to improve operations:

SLPA reopens Northern entrance of Colombo Port

Charumini DE SILVA

Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), Managing Director Capt. Nihal Keppetipola said with the prevailing peaceful conditions the Northern entrance was reopened after a decade.

Due to security reasons the SLPA had to use the Southern entrance for all operations and this caused delays of up to five to six hours for vessels using the Colombo Port. He was speaking at the reopening of the Northern entrance to the Colombo Port, yesterday.

He said the Northern entrance was used earlier as a feeder vessel especially for small and medium vessels, which did many transshipments to the region.

The Colombo Port will now have the capacity to increase its daily operations. This will enhance the capacity of the Colombo harbour.

Though there was a decline during the past decade due to the security situation the Authority expects to improve productivity to compete with other regional and international ports.

This entrance would enable inward and outward vessels, which would help reduce the interchange time and also provide more convenience for operational activities. With the economy also becoming more active the reopening of the Northern entrance would directly benefit the economy immensely, Keppetipola said.

Port, Aviation, Irrigation and Water Management Minister, Chamal Rajapaksa said the reopening of the Northern entrance will energize the current operations of the Colombo Port as it could also contribute to the 24-hour operations daily.

This will eventually increase the income of the Colombo harbour.

Navy Chief, Vice Admiral, Tisara Samarasinghe said they would continue the security measures and the opening of this entrance would benefit the country’s economy more.