MPL: 4,000 containers held up at Lanka Port brought to Maldives after resolving congestion

Maldives Ports Limited (MPL), on Friday. announced that the issues hindering the transportation of containers from Colombo Port in neighboring Sri Lanka to the Male' Commercial Harbor have been resolved.

In early April, businesses across the Maldives raised concerns over substantial delays in cargo clearance at Male' Port, resulting in a large number of Maldives-bound containers remaining stranded at international transshipment hubs.

Speaking at a press conference on April 8th, Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed revealed that around 4,200 containers destined for the Maldives had been held up at Colombo Port.

In an update on Friday, MPL stated that the delays in unloading cargo at the Male' Commercial Harbor, which had disrupted the arrival of containers from Colombo since the start of the year, have now been successfully addressed.

MPL attributed the operational challenges experienced earlier this year to a significant increase in the number of cargo vessels calling at the port. The company also noted that several vessels were carrying substantially larger container loads than usual, resulting in longer unloading periods. Coupled with existing space constraints at the harbor, these factors placed considerable pressure on port operations and limited its ability to meet growing service demand.

Nevertheless, MPL reported that, through the concerted efforts of its operational teams, more than 4,000 containers that had remained held up in Colombo since April have now been transported to the Maldives. The company added that cargo vessels operating between Male' and Colombo have resumed their "normal schedules."

MPL stated that it continues to pursue immediate measures to address challenges stemming from limited space at the Male' Commercial Harbor.

The company further emphasized that a comprehensive long-term solution to the current operational constraints will be realized once commercial port activities are relocated to K. Thilafushi. According to MPL, work to accelerate the relocation project is progressing rapidly.