COLOMBO port, which handled 7.2 million TEU
last year, has been hit with massive congestion, a backlog of 50,000 TEU because of a lack of
labour from Covid-19 lockdowns, reports London's Loadstar.
The
congestion, building since October, is impacting supply chains in India and Bangladesh.
Rohan Masakorala, chief executive of
Shippers' Academy Colombo, said the port of Colombo's workforce had been reduced 30 per
cent
hitting crane productivity and inter-terminal trucking.
"The
backlog is huge, and could take six-to-eight weeks to clear up," he said.
"Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) mainly focuses on
transshipment, while the other two terminals handle feeder vessels, so there is
a vital need for inter-terminal transfers.
"The
lack of drivers meant containers started accumulating in the storage areas of
the port, which began impacting feeder vessels - waiting for more than a week,
sometimes - and then even mainline vessels were delayed by one or two
days," said Mr Masakorala.
Colombo
handles around 600,000 TEU a month, feedering has being massively disrupted,
with carriers forced to drop off boxes in India, Singapore and Dubai, he said.
"Even
now, there are 23 ships waiting for a berth, whereas normally the port receives
12-16 vessels a day, so that's quite a number out of their window," said
Mr Masakorala.
Inevitably,
freight rates have doubled out of Colombo, with shippers needing to book up to
eight weeks in advance to get a slot, he explained.
"Some
shippers have had cargo rolled for four weeks in Colombo and two weeks in
Singapore," Mr Masakorala said. "Freight forwarders were severely
affected, as some emergency shipments had to be airlifted or go to a third port
to connect, increasing costs and transit times."
Source
: HKSG / Photo : Safet4Sea.
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