Colombo port’s cargo flows are also recovering as trade recovers from recession, Wickrama said.
"Our target for 2010 is four million twenty-foot containers and we are quite confident that we can achieve this target without any difficulty.
With the economic recovery in the last two months we experienced a rapid increase in volumes of nearly 20 percent compared to previous years," he said.
The SLPA statement said that cargo forecasts for Colombo had said the port would be reach maximum capacity of around 4.5 million twenty-foot equivalent container units in 2012.
It quoted Wickrama as saying the SLPA has already started improving capacity in the port by increasing the yard space, introducing new quay side and yard gantry cranes and installing a modern terminal operation system.
Ship traffic and container volumes in Colombo port slumped in 2009 compared with 2008 because of the trade slowdown caused by recession but began picking up towards the end of the year.
SLPA