Bottleneck at Male’ port leaves 4,200 containers stuck in Colombo

There are now 4,200 containers of commodities bound for the Maldives stuck in the Port of Colombo, according to Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed.

The situation is linked to a severe bottleneck at the Male’ Commercial Port.

Multiple importers reported to Sun that while they have always faced delays in getting their cargo cleared at the Male’ Commercial Port, the situation has gotten worse recently.

What previously took two-three days is now taking two weeks, or even up to 18 days.

This has left thousands of containers bound for the Maldives stuck at the Port of Colombo in neighboring Sri Lanka.

At a press briefing on Wednesday morning, Saeed said there are now 4,200 containers stuck in Colombo.

He said that importers have asked the government to intervene and expedite the shipment of 80 of these containers.

“Businesses have asked to expedite 80 containers. Commodities are continuously getting shipped to the Maldives through collaborative efforts between the port administration in Colombo, our commercial port, and government institutions,” he said.

Saeed said that the government is working closely with businesses to address challenges arising from the bottleneck at the Male’ Commercial Port.

He said that businesses have asked the government to help expedite the shipment of two essential commodities – milk and sunflower oil. He said that the government is treating the requests as a top priority, and is working to ensure the market does not run out of these products.