Transshipment volume handled by Colombo Port increased by 9.7 percent year-on-year (YoY) to a record high of 6.31 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2024, with transhipment volume accounting for 81 percent of the port’s container output during the year.

Due to growth in transhipment, partly driven by the Red Sea crisis, the port recorded an all-time high of 7.78 million container throughput in 2024, up 12.1 percent on transhipment volume handled last year to 6.91 million TEU.

In December last year, transshipment volume handled by the port rose 5.4 percent year-on-year to 544,266 TEU.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is targeting to exceed nine million container throughput this year, with additional capacity from the Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) and Colombo West International Terminal (CWIT) over two million TEUs to take the port’s capacity to over 10 million TEU this year. .

During the year, import container (loaded) volume increased by 23.5 percent year-on-year to 541,155 TEU, while export container (loaded) volume also increased by 6.2 percent year-on-year to 301,094 TEU. In addition, the port’s redeployment volume increased by 49.6 percent year-on-year to 307,619 TEU.

The Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), the port’s only fully operational deepwater container terminal, handled 3.22 million TEUs during the year, up 4.1 percent from the 3.20 million TEUs recorded in 2023.

Meanwhile, SLPA-managed Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) and its partially operated ECT together handled 2.41 million TEUs in 2024, up 22.8 percent from 1.96 million TEUs handled in 2023. Container volume handled by the South Asian Gateway Terminal (SAGT) also rose by 14.9 percent to 2.02 million TEU during the year.

However, the number of container ships calling at the port decreased during the year. Container ship arrivals fell 9.5 percent to 3,522 ships, while the number of ships arriving at the port also declined at a slower pace in December last year.

On the other hand, conventional and other cargo vessels showed strong growth, showing a 68.8 percent annual increase to 54 vessels and a 27.8 percent annual increase to 230 vessels, respectively. Notably, the port also handled 74 refueling ships, reflecting an annual growth of 68.2 percent, indicating high demand for refuelling. Overall, the number of ships arriving at the port last year decreased by 6.3 percent to 3,968 vessels.

The port has emerged as a transit point for major shipping lines that have decided to reroute their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid shipping disruptions and higher insurance premiums amid disruptions in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. A period of boom followed by the Red Sea crisis, which lasted from late 2023 to early last year, followed by a challenging period of heavy traffic. Congestion exacerbated by trade union action at Sri Lanka Customs also revealed some management deficiencies on the part of the authorities. This resulted in operational inefficiencies including inter-terminal delays, extended clearance times, reduced berthing efficiency and re-routing of some services by shipping lines. By late last year, the port began to see heavy traffic return to previous levels.