Port Race

Feb 09, 2008 (LBO) – Colombo port has a good chance of enhancing its status as a container transhipment hub with its expansion plans and compliance with international maritime security codes, a container security expert has said. Stefaan Vermeire, Director General of the International Container Security Organization based in Brussels said Colombo's location in the middle of global supply chains gave it a geographical advantage it could exploit.

The island''s compliance with new global maritime security programmes led by the US also means it can offer safe and fast transhipment services for cargo flowing from Asia to the US, he said at a seminar to discuss Colombo's future.

. It was organised by the Company of Master Mariners, an organisation of shipping professionals, and supported by the Colombo branch of the Nautical Institute.

Its aim was to discuss Colombo's plans to expand capacity by building new ports like the South Port next to the existing harbour and retain the country's competitiveness in the shipping business.

"There is a future for Colombo definitely," declared Vermeire.

Colombo could develop its transhipment business like the hub of Malta in the middle of the Mediterranean but it has the