An awards ceremony organized by the Colombo International Container Terminals Limited (CICT) to celebrate the winners of its Competition for Quay Crane (QC) operators was held on Monday (29).It was reported that such an award ceremony was held for the first time in South Asia.The Gold Medal of the competition was won by QC operator Chathuranga Pushpakumara.China Merchants Group (CMG), the parent company of Colombo International Container Terminals Limited (CICT), is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

To mark this milestone, the company is conducting 150 global competitions among its group. In an effort to recognize and reward the best operators within the company, Colombo International Container Terminals Limited, located in the south Harbour of Port of Colombo, had hosted the first ever Quay Crane (QC) operator competition in South Asia. The goal was to promote exceptional safety standards and continued skills development within all ranks of the QC operators.The competition was held within CICT contained 2 rounds.

The Participation of all QC operators was mandatory in the 1st round, where overall skills and abilities were assessed based on strict standardized criteria applicable to all participants taking part.The top 30 performers from the 1st round had advanced to the 2nd round, which focused on exceptional skills.

The participants were given an opportunity to demonstrate, to the best of their ability, skills and expertise in handling containers and operating their stations.After the 2nd round, 6 of the top-scoring QC operators from CICT receiveed awards and cash prices across three categories:1 Gold Winner received LKR 600,000/-, 2 Silver Winners received LKR 400,000/- each, and 3 Bronze Winners received LKR 200,000/- each.Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT}, which manages the South Terminal at the Port of Colombo, is the first deep water terminal in South Asia and the only one of its kind in operation within the region.

Since its inception in 2014, the terminal has incrementally grown its volumes handled from 686,639 TEUs (in 2014} to just over 3.2 million TEUs in 2021; the highest done by a terminal in South Asia.CICT has been consistently recognized for exceptional levels of efficiency, driven on the ground by its QC operators, and has won the AFLAS award for Asia’s best container terminal under 4 million TEU’s for 5 consecutive years (2017-2021).Further, CICT has also won the award for Most Efficient Terminal 2021’ at the Global Ports Forum Awards.

Thus, CICT is very keen on promoting and creating healthy competition amongst its QC operators whilst providing incentives to encourage exceptional excellence.

CICT’s efficiency drive has positively impacted the stakeholders by reducing the port stay of the vessels which are impacted by the global challenges faced by the shipping industry.

This has ultimately lead to remarkable efficiency, further strengthening the globally renowned position of the Port of Colombo..

This article first appeared/also appeared in https://adaderana.lk