The Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) has announced that the difficulties previously faced in bringing cargo containers from Colombo Port to the Maldives have now been resolved.
According to MPL, the challenges in unloading cargo at the Malé Commercial Harbour began early this year due to a sudden spike in the number of incoming cargo vessels. The company noted that some vessels were carrying significantly more containers at once than they previously used to, which led to longer wait times and delays in clearing cargo at the port.
MPL further explained that due to limited physical space at the port, it became difficult to keep up and provide services at a pace that matched the high influx and demand.
However, through the dedicated efforts of MPL’s operations teams since April this year, more than 4,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) of cargo that had been stranded at Colombo Port have now been successfully brought to the Maldives. The company stated that vessels transporting cargo between Malé Harbour and Colombo Port are now operating on their "normal schedules."
MPL added that they are actively working to identify and implement temporary measures to mitigate the issues caused by the space constraints at the commercial port.
As part of a long-term strategy to address these capacity issues, the government has decided to relocate the Malé Commercial Port to Thilafushi by November next year. The first phase of this relocation project has been awarded to China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC). Meanwhile, the construction of a 100-meter quay wall and paving works in the area have been contracted to the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC).
MPL stated that this particular area is currently being developed to handle clearance operations for the upcoming Thilafushi port, with the company aiming to finish development there by October this year. Once this phase is complete, maritime cargo clearance services will begin operating from that location.
Ultimately, when the full Thilafushi Port Development Project is completely finished, this temporary zone will be converted into a dedicated "service quay" exclusively for MPL's own vessels.
The port relocation project is being carried out on 20 hectares of land acquired by MPL in Thilafushi. Once the first phase of the new port is operational, unloading a cargo ship will take just 48 hours—a massive upgrade from the five to six days it currently takes to unload a vessel.
