Traffic at Indian ports jumps after trouble in the Colombo port

The political and economic uncertainties in Sri Lanka and the congestion at the Colombo port are forcing more ships to turn towards Indian ports in recent months.

According to industry bodies, the past one month saw diversion of around 5-10 per cent of normal cargo from Colombo to Indian ports, with Chennai, Ennore, Mundra and VO Chidambaranar Port in Thoothukudi being major beneficiaries.

The Kochi International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) in Vallarpadam, India’s first transshipment terminal, saw an increase of 62 per cent in traffic to 13,609 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in March 2022, compared to 8,394 TEU during March 2021, due