Colombo: The Sri Lankan state owned container terminal at the port of Colombo (pictured) has announced that it plans to increase the number of berths for feeder vessels in order to ease the congestion at the port caused by the recent heightened security. The added measures such as closing the port's northern entrance imposed last month to prevent attacks by local insurgent group the Tamil Tigers, coupled with increasing throughput, have substantially increased docking time for vessels.
Accordingly, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is to transform the port's general cargo berths into four new feeder berths as a temporary measure to prevent further bottlenecks until such time as either the security risk abates or the construction is completed on the new mega-port, the South Port of Colombo. The berths will be equipped with mobile cranes and top lifters.
According to the Lankabusinessonline, Colombo now has four deep water berths at the state-run Jaya Container Terminal, three deep water berths at the privatized South Asia Gateway Terminals and two feeder berths at the Unity Container Terminal. [08/08/07]
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