Port of Colombo

The Port of Colombo is a rapidly growing maritime hub of the South Asia Region. Cargo originates from and destined to Europe, East and South Asia, the Persian Gulf, and East Africa. These are conveniently connected through the port.

The Port of Colombo is primarily a container port. In 2015, it handled about 5.1 million TEUs of containerized cargo.

The original port had a harbour area of 184 hectares. In 2008, the South Harbour area (285 hectares) was developed to accommodate deep water berths and the latest generation of mainline vessels. The harbour is served by a two-way channel with an initial depth of 20m and a width of 570m.

In addition to the container terminals in the original port area, SLPA planned to develop three terminals in the South Harbour. Each having capacity of 2.4 million TEU. The first of which was built and in operation on a build operate-transfer (BOT) basis by Colombo International Container Terminals Limited. This is a joint venture company of China Merchants Holding (International) Co. Ltd and SLPA

Additional Details

  • Total area: 1,200 acres
  • Container Capacity: 7 million TEUs