"Colombo port's total cargo volumes have seen a growth of 23.6 percent to-date compared with last year," Ranchigoda told the CASA meeting.
Plans by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority to acquire six gantry cranes along with many more transfer cranes and yard tractors for moving containers should improve productivity, he said.
"Two gantry cranes and five transfer cranes are to be delivered by the end of 2010 and the balance by July 2011.
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Colombo is the transhipment hub for south Asia when boxes from ports in the Indian sub-continent are transferred to bigger vessels sailing on the main East-West trade route.
Corrected - third paragraph reference is to Unity Container Terminal, not Jaya Container Terminal Nimal Ranchigoda, chairman of the Ceylon Association of Ships' Agents, said two issues of "very serious concern to the membership" were delays to vessels of shipping lines at Colombo port and productivity levels at government container terminals.
He told CASA's annual ge