Hambantota Port says import delays, not port operations, caused vehicle backlog

Hambantota International Port has said uncleared imported vehicles are tied to importer-side delays. The clarification seeks to protect the port's role as a fast-moving regional RoRo hub.Sri Lanka's Hambantota International Port has said it remains focused on its role as a regional roll-on/roll-off transhipment hub by ensuring quick cargo clearance and reducing storage time, amid media reports of a backlog of imported vehicles at the port.The Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG), which manages the port, issued the clarification on Monday after reports said more than 1,000 imported vehicles were lying uncleared because importers were unable to complete documentation and pay port-related charges. The company said it is currently handling more than 50,000 vehicles and that delays involving long-stay vehicles are linked to issues in the domestic import sector."Ports are designed to facilitate cargo movement, not to serve as long-term vehicle storage yards. Every vehicle that remains in the port for months or years occupies valuable operational space required to handle new cargo and support the continued growth of Sri Lanka's automotive logistics sector," HIPG said in a press release.The company said it is working to maintain Hambantota as a regional roll-on/roll-off, or RoRo, transhipment hub, where wheeled cargo and vehicles are moved between vessels or other transport without the use of cranes. While media reports said more than 1,000 imported vehicles remained uncleared at the port, in addition to 40,000 vehicles meant for transhipment, HIPG said 1,278 vehicles had been at the port for more than three months and 581 for more than a year. According to HIPG, all the long-stay vehicles belong to the domestic import sector. It said the delays were largely linked to Sri Lanka's vehicle import restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The country lifted the ban and resumed vehicle imports in 2025 after nearly five years. Of the vehicles stored for more than a year, around 400 were imported before imports resumed in 2025, while another 175 date back to the period before the import ban was imposed. The company added that 178 vehicles have remained at the port since before HIPG took over management of Hambantota Port in December 2017.HIPG said the prolonged storage was due to documentation issues, banking procedures, financing arrangements and other administrative delays beyond the port's control, and that such delays reduce the space needed to handle rising automotive cargo volumes. Under current policy, imported vehicles get 10 days of free storage before charges are applied, while transhipment cargo gets 21 days. The company said customers had earlier been allowed only three days of free storage before it took over management of the port. It also said it had granted significant "demurrage waivers and concessions for thousands of vehicles that remained at the port for extended periods", whether they were later re-exported or cleared for the domestic market. HIPG is a public-private partnership between the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and China Merchants Port Holdings, with the Chinese company holding an 85 per cent stake. Hambantota Port sits along one of the world's busiest east-west shipping routes in the Indian Ocean. Built largely with Chinese loans, the port was leased in 2017 for 99 years to state-run China Merchants Port Holdings for about USD 1.12 billion after Sri Lanka, facing rising external debt, was unable to service the borrowings. The deal has been cited by critics, including India and the US, as an example of China's alleged "debt-trap diplomacy", a description Beijing has repeatedly rejected.Overall, HIPG said the long stay of some imported vehicles is tied to delays in the domestic import process, while the port's priority remains quick clearance and efficient use of space as it handles large volumes of automotive cargo.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Jul 28, 2026 10:20 IST