Colombo Port's transshipment volumes grew 20.9 percent to 1.32 million TEUs, with March volumes up 19.4 percent to 477,043. Only Singapore grew at a faster rate of 16.5 percent among major ports, the SLPA said, quoting a ranking by Alphaliner Monthly, a shipping publication. Other fast growing ports in the region were Xiamen, China 11.6 percent, Antwerp, Belgium 10.7 percent and Ningbo-Zhoushan, China at 10.4 percent.

Sri Lanka's Ports Minister, Mahinda Samrasingha said here recently, that the Colombo Port expects to handle 7.0 million containers in 2018, up 12.9 percent from the 6.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) handled in 2017 with joint marketing by the Jaya Container Terminal of the SLPA, South Asia Gateway Terminal of the John Keells Holdings and Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) of China's CM Ports.

Samarasingha said all three terminals had inked a deal to jointly promote the port.Sri Lanka's Colombo Port was ranked the 13th best connected port in the world in 2017, moving up five places from 18, a year earlier, according to an index compiled by Drewry, a UK based shipping and maritime consultancy.Under South Asia, Colombo Port was ranked the best connected.