The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), which operates the island’s state-run ports, continues to make inroads into the transshipment market, improving five places to 13th in the Drewry Port Connectivity Index in the fourth quarter of 2017.

In the process, it has also gained from the good throughput flow and the Port of Colombo saw record volume of 6.2m teu in 2017. Sri Lanka’s main port also became the port with the best connectivity in South Asia.

For its dedicated efforts to raise the global position of the Port of Colombo, SLPA was awarded the Ports Authority of the Year Award by the Global Ports Forum (GPF) in 2018. 

With its latest initiatives made under the guidance of Minister of Ports and Shipping Mahinda Samarasinghe and under the management led by the SLPA chairman. Parakrama Dissanayake, all sectors of port operation have shown rapid growth compared to previous corresponding periods.

SLPA has also prepared a three-year development plan to expedite Sri Lanka’s port sector development process to further increase container volumes.