A Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) official told local media that the SLPA has “clearance from the security officials now to lay up vessels in safe anchorages outside Colombo harbour.”
“We have been having several requests from shipping lines on the possibility of laying up their ships in our anchorages,” said SLPA managing director Nihal Keppetipola.
The SLPA is also trying to obtain clearance for the eastern Sri Lankan port of Trincomalee to be another location for ship lay-ups.