News / Sri Lanka's port of Colombo gets back to work after devastating floods

Colombo port © Viktor Karasev |

Operations at Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port were getting back to some sort of schedule today, after Cyclone Ditwah wreaked havoc on the island nation.

Marine terminals were forced to suspend operations on Thursday when the cyclone threatened, South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT), the port’s second-busiest handler, had warned of vessel delays.

According to shipping sources in Colombo, the port could take up to a week to normalise vessel window schedules and other cargo operations.

“Vessels began lining up for berths after the port resumed pilot movements on Saturday morning,” one port executive told The Loadstar.

“Cargo movement within the harbour is manageable, but the landside access in and out of the port is caught up in bottlenecks,” the source added.

The hub port had already been under capacity pressure due to a spike in volumes, causing intermittent congestion issues.

Meanwhile, Hambantota, the other major Sri Lankan gateway, operated by China Merchants Holdings, had continued to operate without any major interruption despite the weather, sources claimed.

Latest reports have put the death toll in Sri Lanka from the resulting floods and mudslides at more than 350, a number that will likely rise as some 200 people are still believed to be missing.

The Sri Lankan government yesterday declared a state of emergency in the country to better handle relief and other infrastructure reconstruction efforts.