The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) may call for tenders to develop the West Container Terminal of the Colombo port in the near future, according to its Chairman Dr. Priyath B.Wicrakama.

“We will call tenders for West container terminal in the near future depending on the requirement,” Wickrama said.

He made this comments during his keynote address on the subject of ‘Modern Container Terminals’ at the Seatrade Middle East Maritime Conference in Dubai recently.

Given the changing nature of international shipping in the wake of the global economic crisis, he observed that port operators would have to take innovative steps to improve facilities, like those currently underway in Sri Lankan ports.

“The global economic crisis would invariably create numerous challenges to terminal operators.

The greatest challenge is the new wave of larger vessels. As shipping lines add larger vessels to their fleets and call only at limited number of terminals to keep down their transport cost, terminals are under pressure to provide deeper draught berthing facilities to accommodate larger vessels.”

“Those terminal operators who manage to maintain high productivity and service levels could retain their existing business and attract new volumes.

With an investment exceeding US$ 20 billion, innovative solutions and costeffective methods are being introduced by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority to provide greater services to valued customers through sea port terminals,” Dr. Wickrama noted.