Colombo Port in right track on world security standards

The  international  governing body on container security, International  Container Security Organisation (ICSO) has  commended the  Colombo  port as one of the best  ports in the world with the availability of  crucial global compliances such as the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code)   and Container Security Initiative (CSI).

 The Director General of the  ICSO  Stefaan Vermeire  made  these comments  during  his presentation  on ‘Container  Security Devices  and Container  Surveillance” made at the seminar  titled  “Colombo 2010: An Emerging  Regional Mega  Port” organized by the  Company of Master  Mariners of Sri Lanka  on Friday.

 “There is a good future  for Colombo due to its location in the  international shipping route. On the other hand in today’s world the  ships are getting  bigger  and bigger and the ports  which can  handle these ships are less.  Those  ports  which can  accommodate  these ships become winners and  those cannot  become  carriers of yesterday. In that respect  security wise  the Colombo  port can now compete with  other  international ports   focusing  itself  for a bright  future. Therefore  I see that Colombo is in the right track,” he said.

 Mr. Vermeire also said that though there is an international  mandatory dead line until 2012, for all the ports  in the world to get  CSI  compliance and Sri Lanka has already complied five  years ahead.

Speaking on the  current  trends  in relation  to  international  container security,  Mr. Vermeire said that  security of the world had changed since  the 9/11 incident.

“Whether we like or not the  9/11 incident changed the  security of USA  and the rest of the  world into a new dimension.   The introduction of the ICSO  and CSI  is a direct result of 9/11 and is  used to protect the  ships  and ports all over the  world. 

In that sense   the security of the   containers and  goods tracking systems, detecting tampering and  other issues  become very important  in the international shipping  trade.” “This require smart gadgets coming up to the  doors of the  containers with  satellite communication and so  on.  On the other hand  all these technologies  are not compliant with each other. In that respect the role of the  ICSO come into action.  What we do is   we bring  stability  in exchanging of  data of the containers, its status and  tracking service,” he said.

 Sri  Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA)  Additional  Managing Director  Capt. Nihal Keppetipola  delivering the key note address at the seminar said that the Colombo Port   had spent  US$ 50 million in getting  ISPS  compliancy and CSI compliancy for container scanning. 

 “The Port of Colombo has now achieved the Hub Port status in the South Asia Region and is ranked 29th in the international ranking of Container Ports. Thus  we  have identified the  changes in the world of shipping and  in order to capture the growing market and keeping abreast with the supply chain demands, we  launched the  Colombo Port Expansion Project  and Hambantota New Port Project .

Capt. Keppetipola  also  indicated new measures taken  to the development of a Logistics Centre “Cargo Village” in a 22 acres area with a rail and road access where total logistics operations and value addition will be provided by SLPA. 

Deputy General Manger of  Haskoning  India Private Limited Mustaq Merekar  who was a guest speaker at the seminar spoke on  Trends  in Indian  Container Terminal  Development and  LLC Dubai  Inter City  Regional  Accounts Manager  Ziad  Banna  spoke on  Delivering Real time  Visibility  of port  performance  to operators  and customers.
(OB 11022008)