Port of Colombo Archives - The Loadstar

Port of Valencia slowly gets back to work after floods from rainstorms

Angelo Mathais India correspondent — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 13:50:24 +0000

Valencia Port is limping back to cargo activity after it was forced to halt operations in the aftermath of severe rainstorms that lashed the country’s south-eastern region last week.
The devastation from what was said to be the severest flash-flooding in Europe over the past five decades, is reported to have claimed some 100 lives.
Container lines have reported work resumption at Valencia on a “restricted scale”, as multiple landside challenges persist.
Hapag-Lloyd ...

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Transhipment boom at port of Colombo fades as the competition grows

Alexander Whiteman — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 11:11:28 +0000

The unusually strong transhipment cargo gains by Sri Lanka’s Colombo port this year, driven by Red Sea-linked vessel diversions, seem to be ebbing.
The port saw a 6% year-on-year drop in transhipment volumes in July following the 5% decline reported for June, according to the latest data.
Still, Colombo ended H1 24 with a 9.6% rise in transhipment cargo handling, seeing double-digit percentage upswings from January through April.
“The port is poised to ...

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Vizhinjam gets a head start in its quest to be a major transhipment hub

Alexander Whiteman — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 11:31:02 +0000

Vizhinjam Port, touted as India’s “hub counter” to Colombo in Sri Lanka, is gaining interest from major carriers for transhipment calls.
According to industry sources, MSC has lined up an ad-hoc call at Vizhinjam this week, after Maersk docked the 8,714-teu San Fernando at the new harbour on 11 July, trialling commercial operations at the port.
The 2006-built MSC Roma – nominal capacity pegged at 9,200 teu – departed Le Havre on 2 ...

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Carriers forced to seek alternatives as capacity crunch at Colombo Port tightens

Alexander Whiteman — Fri, 10 May 2024 11:00:05 +0000

Terminal capacity pressure building in Sri Lanka’s Colombo port, linked to the Red Sea-linked transhipment boost, seems to be spilling over to other ports in the subcontinent region.

According to local industry sources, Adani Ennore Container Terminal (AECTPL), near Chennai, has seen a flurry of ad-hoc MSC vessel calls with transhipment cargo, rerouted from Colombo due to the space crunch there.

MSC has an interest in AECTPL, following the purchase of a ...

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Colombo capacity crunch adding to container line woes

Alex Lennane — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 11:26:26 +0000

Container lines are facing severe capacity problems at Sri Lanka’s Colombo port, as they reshuffle calls in the wake of the worsening maritime security situation in West Asia.
A recent terminal change by Maersk amplifies that concern: the Danish carrier hosted a call at Colombo’s East Container Terminal (ECT) for the first time, previously always using APMT’s South Asia Gateway Terminal and/or the newer Colombo International facility managed by China Merchants ...

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Sri Lanka’s Hambantota begins container operations with MSC

Gavin van Marle — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 11:45:50 +0000

Container transhipment flows out of Sri Lanka – historically concentrated at Colombo port – are set to diversify intra-country, after Hambantota International Port (HIP) began container operations.
Located some 250km south-east of Colombo, HIP – under the ownership of China Merchants Port Holdings (CMPort) – hosted a call from the 4,600 teu MSC Ingrid yesterday.
The vessel discharged some 500 teu, which sources said would be loaded on to the MSC Sky ...

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Port of Colombo reaping ‘a bumper harvest’ from the Red Sea crisis

Gavin van Marle — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 13:29:02 +0000

Sri Lanka’s Colombo port seems to have had a “bumper volume harvest” from the Red Sea crisis, after vessel operators frantically adjusted port calls to minimise schedule disruptions from the longer transits around southern Africa.
Colombo is a busy intermediate point for container transhipment in South Asia, predominantly for Indian cargo.
“Colombo has been a great beneficiary of the transhipment flow realignment in West Asia,” a Colombo-based port veteran told The Loadstar.
And ...

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Malaysia upholds ban so Zim re-routes services to omit Port Klang

Gavin van Marle — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 13:18:14 +0000

Following the December announcement by Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that the country’s ports would no longer service calls by Zim ships, the Israeli carrier has cancelled all calls to the main hub of Port Klang.
In addition, there is now no mention of Malaysia on the carrier’s website, and it is absent from a drop-down list of shippers’ destinations.
As previously reported by The Loadstar, the two services most ...

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Nicobar: India’s long-shot transhipment bet

Gavin van Marle — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 11:54:49 +0000

The Indian subcontinent has always been a great place to go elephant watching, and recently there have been excited reports of sightings of a rare breed – the white elephant.
Seen it before
This is represented this week by the utterly bonkers plan outlined by India’s shipping minister Shri Sarbananda Sonowal to build a $5bn container transhipment port in the Nicobar Islands.
I’m going to stick my neck out here – the project is ...

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Lidl-owned Tailwind targets apparel shippers on its China-Europe services

Gavin van Marle — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 12:47:47 +0000

German retailer Lidl’s in-house box shipping arm, Tailwind Shipping Lines, has announced a change to its Asia-Europe schedules in a bid to win more third-party customers.
It is increasing the frequency of its Tiger Express Service (TEX) out of Bangladesh to entice more clothing and textile shippers, while its China-Europe Panda Express Service (PEX) will feature an additional call at the Sri Lankan transhipment hub of Colombo.
“These adjustments to our sailing ...

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