Ceylon Chamber members conduct Colombo Port familiarization visit
The member Associations of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce had an
opportunity to visit the Sri Lanka Ports Authority to inspect facilities
available at the SLPA warehouses, check documentation and observe the
payments protocols at the Canal Yard Office recently.
The visit was organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce as a part
of its trade facilitation initiative. D.W. Atapattu, Director Logistics,
Sri Lanka Ports Authority conducted the familiarization visit.
During the visit the participants had the opportunity to see for
themselves the workings of the Colombo Port warehouses.Whilst they
suggested improvements the SLPA also informed the participants of some
of the common mistakes done by importers and exporters which can be
minimized by creating awareness, and thereby make the services rendered
by the SLPA more efficient.
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D.W. Atapattu, Director Logistics,
SLPA conducting the familiarization tour |
One of the main concerns that were raised was that lack of care and
proper handling of the cargo that is shipped. The Director Logistics
highlighted some of the key factors that have to be kept in mind by both
importers and exporters:
Certain cargo types should not be mixed. For example, a consignment
of milk powder should not be shipped together with aromatic substances.
Cargo that can potentially damage other cargo should be shipped
separately. When shipping a same product consignment to a number of
consignees, the goods must be clearly marked and separated making it
easy to identify the goods separately.
The cargo should clearly indicate the name of the consignee.Attention
has to be paid to the manner in which a container is loaded and
packed.Containers have to be stuffed in a manner that does not damage
the goods transported. Proper stuffing of a container will reduce the
time spent for re-stuffing and thereby save much time that sometimes
lead to port congestion due to re-stuffing badly stuffed containers.
Speaking of the expansion work that is taking place at the Colombo
Port Atapattu noted that there are plans underway to acquire warehousing
facilities for general cargo in Peliyagoda area enhancing the capacity
for re-stuffing of LCL containers without delay. Peliyagoda cargo
village is expected to be initially opened by the end of this year and
gradual phased development is expected to eventually reduce the heavy
traffic at the Colombo port. In the long run a separate domestic import
yard and a cargo village with increased accessibility and mobility will
be built in the Peliyagoda warehouse complex. However, Dangerous Cargo
and Multi Country Consolidation (MCC) cargo operations will continue to
be routed to the warehouses inside the Port premises.
According to Atapattu, the Colombo port receives approximately 2,000
Twenty feet Equivalent Units (TEUs) of Lesser than Container Load (LCL)
cargo containers and 1,400 TEUs MCC cargo containers a month for port
operations. As a step to expedite the workings of the Colombo Port, the
management plans to purchase additional equipment; two top lifters and
nine fork lifters are an absolute necessity to expedite the day to day
workings at the Port.
Another positive change that was introduced to the Colombo Port was
the NAVIS system which has computerized the import procedure. In the
near future the complete documentation process at the Port will be
mechanized minimizing errors and also considerably expediting the import
and export process. The warehouses are also on 24 hour CCTV monitoring
ensuring best care and ensuring safety of the goods that are in the
warehouses.
Speaking of the visit Dinesh De Silva, Vice Chairman Shippers Council
said, "the visit was certainly useful and gave the participants the
operational aspects of SL Ports Authority in depth. The learning of the
visit is really beneficial for all to understand the effects on
importers/exporters due to bad consolidation of cargo at origin, bad
stuffing and use of inferior packing materials which damages the
valuable cargo and finally creating delivery delays at SLPA.
The participants were pleased about the initiatives taken by the
Chairman, SLPA and the staff to minimize damages to cargo at warehouses.
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