By: Staff Writer
August 30, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s ambition to strengthen Colombo as a regional maritime and logistics hub is running into an uncomfortable reality at the Jaya Container Terminal: infrastructure designed for an earlier era of shipping is increasingly struggling to accommodate the demands of today’s global container industry.
The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has responded by commissioning a comprehensive modernisation study, financed through the World Bank-supported Sri Lanka Ports and Logistics Development Programme (PORTAL). The consultancy is expected to evaluate future cargo demand and recommend development options capable of keeping JCT commercially viable for the next 25 years.
The timing is significant.
JCT’s container-handling performance has declined amid three interconnected problems—ageing equipment, poor terminal design and limited operating space. Together, these weaknesses threaten the terminal’s ability to compete as shipping lines deploy larger vessels and demand faster turnaround times.
The terminal’s equipment base illustrates the scale of the challenge. Much of its container-handling machinery dates from 1985–1996. Several systems have surpassed their effective lifespan and continue operating with outdated control technology.
The yard’s rubber-tyred gantry cranes provide another warning. Eighteen of the 48 diesel-electric RTGs are older machines delivered between 1995 and 1998. Their limited performance contributes to operational bottlenecks, while frequent breakdowns disrupt reliability.
The maintenance problem is becoming more difficult because manufacturers’ components for older equipment are increasingly obsolete. Even where the SLPA wants to repair machinery, obtaining compatible spare parts can be difficult.
However, replacing cranes alone may not solve JCT’s competitiveness problem.
The terminal’s physical configuration contains a major built-in limitation. JCT-III and JCT-IV were constructed without a back-reach area. Their cranes operate between rail tracks, leaving insufficient space for efficient traffic circulation and yard operations.
This becomes even more problematic because the terminal has eight quay cranes that require adequate operating space to achieve high productivity.
The berth infrastructure presents another constraint. Existing ship-to-shore cranes have low air drafts and relatively short outreaches. Consequently, the terminal cannot freely accommodate some of the larger modern container ships.
The new consultancy therefore has an unusually broad mandate. It is expected to investigate automation and quay expansion while examining dredging, basin deepening and quay adjustments to address vessel-size and depth limitations.
It must also assess whether JCT could be transformed into a multipurpose terminal handling general cargo, dry bulk and liquid bulk vessels.
This could represent a strategic shift rather than a simple modernisation exercise.
The critical issue is whether Sri Lanka can transform JCT before its weaknesses become a permanent competitive disadvantage. Regional ports are investing heavily in automation, larger berths, advanced cargo systems and green technologies. A terminal burdened by obsolete equipment and restrictive design cannot compete indefinitely through maintenance alone.
The six-month feasibility exercise therefore carries implications far beyond JCT itself. Its recommendations could determine whether Colombo’s oldest container terminal becomes a modernised maritime asset or remains an increasingly expensive bottleneck within Sri Lanka’s regional logistics ambitions.
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