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23rd & 25th May 2012

SLSC conducted Inspection tour to SLPA Warehouses

Representatives of Shippers' Council had an opportunity to visit the Sri Lanka Ports Authority to inspect facilities available at the SLPA warehouses, check documentation and observe the payments protocols at the Canal Yard Office recently. The visit was organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce as a part of its trade facilitation initiative.

Mr. D.W. Atapattu, Director Logistics, Sri Lanka Ports Authority conducted the familiarization visit. During the visit the participants had the opportunity to see for themselves the workings of the Colombo Port warehouses. Whilst they suggested improvements the SLPA also informed the participants of some of the common mistakes done by importers and exporters which can be minimized by creating awareness, and thereby make the services rendered by the SLPA more efficient.

One of the main concerns that were raised was that lack of care and proper handling of the cargo that is shipped. The Director Logistics highlighted some of the key factors that have to be kept in mind by both importers and exporters:

• Certain cargo types should not be mixed. For example, a consignment of milk powder should not be shipped together with aromatic substances
• Cargo that can potentially damage other cargo should be shipped separately
• When shipping a same product consignment to a number of consignees, the goods must be clearly marked and separated making it easy to identify the goods separately
• The cargo should clearly indicate the name of the consignee
• Attention has to be paid to the manner in which a container is loaded and packed
• Containers have to be stuffed in a manner that does not damage the goods transported

Proper stuffing of a container will reduce the time spend de-stuffing and thereby save much time that sometimes lead to port congestions due to de-stuffing badly stuffed containers.

Speaking of the expansion work that is taking place at the Colombo Port Mr. Atapattu noted that there are plans underway to acquire warehousing facilities for general cargo in Peliyagoda area enhancing the capacity for de-stuffing of LCL containers without delays.

Peliyagoda cargo village is expected to be initially opened by the end of this year and gradual phased development is expected to eventually reduce the heavy traffic at the Colombo port. In the long run a separate domestic import yard and a cargo village with increased accessibility and mobility will be built in the Paliyagoda warehouse complex. However, Dangerous Cargo and MCC cargo operations will continue to be routed to the warehouses inside the Port premises.

According to Mr. Atapattu, the Colombo port receives approximately 2,000 twenty feet Equivalent Units (TEUs) of LCL cargo containers and 1400 TEUs MCC cargo containers a month for port operations. As a step to expedite the workings of the Colombo Port, the management plans to purchase additional equipment two top lifters and nine fork lifters which are an absolute necessity to expedite the day to day workings at the Port.

Another positive change that was introduced to the Colombo Port was the NAVIS system which has computerized the import procedure. In the near future the complete documentation process at the Port will be mechanized minimizing errors and also considerably expediting the import and export process. The warehouses are also on 24 hour CCTV monitoring ensuring best care and ensuring safety of the goods that are in the warehouses.

Speaking of the visit Mr. Dinesh De Silva, Vice Chairman Shippers Council said, “the visit was certainly useful and gave the participants the operational aspects of SL Ports Authority in depth. The learning of the visit is really beneficial for all to understand the effects on importers/exporters due to bad consolidation of cargo at origin, bad stuffing and use of inferior packing materials which damages the valuable cargo and finally creating delivery delays at SLPA.

The participants were pleased about the initiatives taken by the Chairman, SLPA and the staff to minimize damages to cargo at warehouses.

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