Vessel Turnaround Time in Colombo Port: Factors and Strategies

This Business Dissertation discusses the need and consequence of lowering the vessel turnaround time in Colombo Port. It identifies the factors that impact the turnaround time and suggests strategies to minimize it. The study found that cargo transferring delay is the major cause of vessel turnaround delay and improving equipment quality can significantly help Colombo Port to minimize the delay.

FACTORS AFFECTING VESSEL TURNAROUND
TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
UNIT TITLE - BUSINESS DISSERTATION
UNIT CODE – MAR042-6
ASSIGNMENT NUMBER - 1 – PROPOSAL
SUBMISSION DEADLINE - 10AM 28/06/2019
NAME - H.M. KALANA MADURANGA DIVULGANE
ID NO. - 1815407
vESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT

1VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Abstract
At port terminals, one of the most important factors related to customer satisfaction is
ship waiting time. As per the last Audit report of General of the National Economic
Council of Sri Lanka, the vessel turnaround time of Colombo Port has increased
significantly with the increasing number of cargo transportation. The purpose of this
research is to assess the need and consequence of lowering the turnaround time
while identifying the factors that have an impact on vessel turnaround time in
Colombo Port and to find the ways in which vessel turnaround time can be
minimised in Colombo Port.
In this research the literature review has been done where secondary data has been
collected and presented in thematic format. As research design for this research the
cross-sectional structured interview design has been used. In this research the
probability random sampling has been done to select 50 responses from the total
number of collected responses from the data collection through using a survey
questionnaire based structured interview process. For data analysis the percentage
distribution and mean value distribution statistics have been used considering mean,
median, mode and standard deviation. Apart from that the correlation statistics has
been used to find the association between employees experience and their opinion.
From this study it has been found that Cargo Transferring Delay is the major cause
of vessel turnaround delay where Breathing delay is the comparatively new cause of
vessel turnaround delay. As per the results found in this study it can be stated that
improving equipment quality will significantly help the Colombo port to minimise the
vessel turnaround delay.
Key Words: Vessel Turnaround Time, Cargo transferring delay.
(Port of Colombo CICT handles first 16,000-TEUer - 16,650-TEU MSC New York)(NEWS, 2014)

2VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Table of content
Chapter1: Introduction........................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Background................................................................................................................................. 5
1.2 Problem Statement...................................................................................................................... 7
1.3 Research questions..................................................................................................................... 8
1.4 Aims and objectives..................................................................................................................... 8
1.5 Research Structure...................................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 2: Literature review.................................................................................................................. 9
2.1 Introduction:................................................................................................................................. 9
2.2 Colombo port and trade activity.................................................................................................10
2.3 Turnaround time and its impact.................................................................................................11
2.4 Factors associated with turnaround time...................................................................................13
2.5 Porting strategies....................................................................................................................... 16
2.6 Summary................................................................................................................................... 17
2.7 Literature Gap........................................................................................................................... 18
Chapter 3: Methodology...................................................................................................................... 19
3.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................ 19
3.2 Research Philosophy................................................................................................................. 19
3.3 Research Approach................................................................................................................... 19
3.4 Research Design....................................................................................................................... 20
3.5 Target Population and sampling................................................................................................ 20
3.6 Data collection........................................................................................................................... 21
3.7 Data analysis............................................................................................................................. 21
3.8 Ethical Consideration................................................................................................................. 21
3.9 Summary................................................................................................................................... 22
Chapter 4: Analysis & discussion......................................................................................................... 23
4.1 Introduction:............................................................................................................................... 23
4.2 Demographic study.................................................................................................................... 23
4.3 Turnaround delay causes.......................................................................................................... 26
4.4 Suggestions............................................................................................................................... 30
4.5 Other factors.............................................................................................................................. 30
4.6Discussion.................................................................................................................................. 32
4.6 Summary................................................................................................................................... 34
Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendation:......................................................................................36
5.1 Summary:.................................................................................................................................. 36
5.2 Linking with Objectives:............................................................................................................. 36
5.3 Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 37
5.4 Limitations and further research................................................................................................38
References.......................................................................................................................................... 40
Appendices.......................................................................................................................................... 43
Appendix 1: Business Dissertation Supervision Monitoring Form...................................................43
Appendix 2: Survey......................................................................................................................... 46

3VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
List of Tables
Table 4.1: Demographic Study – Gender............................................................................................ 22
Table 4.2: Demographic Study – Age.................................................................................................. 22
Table 4.3: Demographic Study – origin................................................................................................ 23
Table 4.4: Demographic Study – Job area..........................................................................................24
Table 4.5: Demographic Study – Experience in industry.....................................................................24
Table 4.6: Demographic Study – Experience in CICT.........................................................................25
Table 4.7: Major cause of turnaround delay........................................................................................25
Table 4.8: Correlation of opinions and experience...............................................................................26
Table 4.9: Major cause of Breathing Delay.......................................................................................... 27
Table 4.10: Major cause of Cargo Transfer delay................................................................................27
Table 4.11: Major cause of Cargo Availability Delay............................................................................28
Table 4.12: Suggestions to minimise the delays..................................................................................29
Table 4.13: Is Port Opening Adequate................................................................................................. 30
Table 4.14: Other Major Factors.......................................................................................................... 30
Table 5.1: Linking with Objectives....................................................................................................... 36

4VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
List of figures
Figure 1:1Volume of port of Colombo.................................................................................................... 7
Figure 1:2MV.ONE AQUILAberthed in CICT.........................................................................................9
Figure 3:1(source:Srilanka Port Authority & Daily FT)(Hundlani, 2018)...............................................22
Figure 4:1 Pie chart for gender percentage.........................................................................................23
Figure 4:2 Pie chart for age percentage.............................................................................................. 23
Figure 4:3 Pie chart for Job area percentage......................................................................................25
Figure 4:4 Major cause of VTT delays................................................................................................. 26
Figure 4:5 Major cause of cargo transfer delays..................................................................................29
Figure 4:6suggestions......................................................................................................................... 30
Figure 4:6 Mean Values o other factors............................................................................................... 31
Figure 4:7 Comparing the Single Cycle and Dual Cycle QC Movement (Zhang & Kim, 2009)............34
Figure 5:1 Conceptual Framework (Source:((Easterby-Smith, et al., 2008)........................................39
Figure 5:2 Factors for terminal delay (Source: Dhingra et al. 2017)(Dhingra, et al., 2017)..................39

5VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background
Competitiveness among port operators have increased and minimization of
terminal charges is important to attract port users for their economic returns.
Reduction of Vessel Turnaround Time (VTT) has an impact on vessel operating
costs. Port operators and their terminal operators have to consider decreasing VTT
for benchmarking good productivity and performance (Mokhtar & Shah, 2006). In
marine port where mostly cargo transpiration and shipment operations are done, the
major performance evaluating factor is delay. This delay refers to the time required
toundock a ship after the decided time of undocking. Between docking and
undocking process several major procedures take place in a shipyard such as
unloading cargo, preparing new crew members, checking new cargo, transporting
new cargo through cargo carrying cranes, loading new cargo, pilotage, assigning
new crew members and many more(Drewry, 2016 February). All these operations
should be synchronised in a very precise manner to ensure the vessel turnaround
efficiency. The total time required from docking a vessel to undocking a vessel with
cargo is called vessel turnaround time and the delay caused in this systematic
process is called vessel turnaround delay.
In port container terminals, ship waiting time includes various types of queue.
The study's major relevance in reducing turnaround times is that time is considered
the most important factor for shipping and delivering goods than the cost of
transporting goods. One of the most important factors associated with customer
satisfaction at port terminals is ship waiting time. One of the major contributors is the
competitive advantage of a port terminal ship waiting time. Waiting and queuing
times in port terminal berthing area is the biggest problem faced by port managers.
Low-waited port terminals can attract more ships than port terminals. Port
management is concerned with service rates at port terminals because it can
dramatically increase the efficiency of service port rates. On the other hand, ship /
control and port customers are concerned about waiting time, meaning they have
tried to select a port terminal with lower service waiting time. Long waiting times
have a negative impact on port terminal efficiency and ship managers prefer to land
with low waiting time and high efficiency at a port terminal. Port management at port
terminals focused on the port output rate that affects the productivity of port
terminals. Additionally, port customers and ship management are concerned with
terminal waiting time.
The turnaround time mainly depends on the transportation of cargo, breathing
operations, and availability of the cargo. Here the breathing operations refers to the
process of starting up the departure or undocking process of a ship or vessel
including assigning pilot, weather alignment, berth preparation, crew or gang
member assigning and others. The cargo loading and unloading processes are fall

6VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
under the cargo transportation system. The cargo availability depends on licence
clearance of goods and cargo stocking. The turnaround time is dependent on the
performance and organisation in the ports and may hence vary. The increased
demand for maritime trade and shipping has been met by the port committee with a
decision of expansion. More harbours have been added to accommodate the
increased number of vessels. This causes stress on the previously organised system
as changes have to be made to account for more number of ships and goods. Hence
turnaround time is directly related to port efficiency.
CICT, which commenced operations in July 2013, manages the Colombo South
Terminal of the Port of Colombo. The first and currently the only deep-water terminal
in South Asia equipped with facilities to handle the largest vessels afloat with 18m
depth. The commencement of CICT’s operations is widely credited as the factor in
the Port of Colombo achieving double digit growth in 2014 after a lapse of over 10
years. In just three years of operation, CICT has brought some of the largest vessels
plying the Asia-Europe routes to Colombo. Of these, Milan Maersk (20,568 TEU),
MSC Maya (19,224 TEU), Mogens Maersk (18,300 TEU), MSC New York (16,652
TEU), CMA CGM Marco Polo (16,020 TEU), Edith Maersk and EMC Thalassa Hellas
(each 14,000 plus TEUs) and their sister vessels are now regular callers at CICT.
Volume – port of Colombo
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
4.26 4.31
4.91 5.19
5.73
6.45
7.01
TEUs million
Figure 1:1Volume of port of Colombo

7VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
1.2 Problem Statement
Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link between West Asia and South East Asia
and the port of Colombo handle container, bulk and tanker vessels. It is one of
busiest port around the world where a huge number of employees work together in a
very systematic way to maintain all the porting and shipping operations. As per the
last Audit report of General of the National Economic Council of Sri Lanka, the
vessel turnaround time of Colombo Port has increased 15% from 2017 to 2018 with
the increasing number of cargo transportation.Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) has
also highlighted the commercial and developmental issues caused by delay in East
Container Terminal (ECT). The chairman of SLPA also stated that with this
increasing rate of vessel turnaround delay the import export business operation in Sri
Lanka is going to be distracted significantly within next 5 years. From different
sources different potential reason has been reported such as lack of facilitation, poor
workforce strength, lack of advancement and others. However, no research has
been done till now regarding the current situation in Colombo port and the underlying
factors behind the vessel turnaround delay. Efficient scheduling and implementation
may require more labour and machinery from the port to be in direct contact with the
work. This is the tactical level part. The level of operation depends on the efficiency
of the work and technology involved. All the required activities should be identified
and planned keeping accordance to their schedule and failure of the ships to
maintain the time keeping accordance to their schedule will result in huge loss for the
ship as well as for the traffic at the sea route since it will become unfavourable
creating further delay. It is difficult to control the time required in travelling to much of
an extent. That is why the focus needs to be given to the period spent by the ships
on docks. The turnaround time is dependent on the performance and organisation in
the ports and may hence vary. The increased demand for maritime trade and
shipping has been met by the port committee with a decision of expansion.
1.3 Research questions
As per the problem statement discussed earlier, it can be clearly stated that
there are many unknown factors associated with turnaround time of CICT that must
understood to address the current problematic situation in CICT and other ports
across the globe. The in-depth needs and consequence of turnaround time are
unknown. The major factors that affect turnaround time are unknown. The strategies
to minimise the current problems regarding vessel turnaround time are also
unknown. Therefore, the research questions of this research are:
 What are the needs and consequences of lowering the turnaround time?
 What are the major factors impact on vessel turnaround time?
 What are the strategies to minimise vessel turnaround time?

8VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
1.4 Aims and objectives
The aim of the project is to study the impacting factors of low turnaround time
in the Colombo Port. The Terminal chosen for the study was the Colombo
International Container Terminals (CICT) which is the only deep-water terminal in
South Asia equipped with facilities to handle any kind of larger vessels. This will be
conducted over three months.
 To assess the need and consequence of lowering the turnaround time
 To identify the factors that have an impact on vessel turnaround time
 To find the ways in which vessel turnaround time can be minimised
1.5 Research Structure
This research consists of 5 major chapters namely the introduction, literature
review, methods, results and conclusion respectively. In introduction section the
research rationale with aims and objectives have been discussed. In literature review
the secondary data has been collected and presented in thematic format. In the
method section the data collection and data analysis tool with ethical aspects have
been presented. In the result section the statistical analysis has been done to
formulate the results accordingly. In conclusion part the implications of the findings
have been presented considering the research objectives and further scope.
Figure 1:2MV.ONE AQUILAberthed in CICT.

9VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Colombo port and
trade activity
Turnaround time
and its impact
Factors associated
with turnaround time
From different
sources different
potential reason has
been reported such as
lack of facilitation,
poor workforce
strength, lack of
advancement and
others. However, no
research has been
done till now
regarding the current
situation in Colombo
port and the
underlying factors
behind the vessel
turnaround delay.
Efficient scheduling
and implementation
may require more
Porting strategies
General Strategies to
minimize delay
Strategies for
Colombo port
Chapter 2: Literature review
2.1 Introduction:
The purpose of this part is to review secondary resources to form a thematic
literature review on the topic of turnaround delay in port and the situation in Colombo
port in this context. In this section various secondary research has been done
including articles, previous researches, industrial reports, government reports, books
and other secondary resources. The themes discussed in this literature review
section is Colombo port and trade activity, turnaround time and its impact, factors
associated with turnaround time and porting strategies. In the following section the
conceptual framework of literature review has been presented.
Figure :2.1 General Strategies to minimize delay
2.2 Colombo port and trade activity
Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link between West Asia and South East Asia
and the port of Colombo handle container, bulk and tanker vessels. Therefore Sri
Lanka has got major character of liner trade. Colombo port got 26th place in the
world raking rate of container ports, by handling 7.1 million TEUs in 2018 (TOP 50
WORLD CONTAINER PORTS, 2018). Since exports and imports are less, Colombo
port (transhipment hub) deals with around 80% transhipment TEUs but More
transhipment out of the mentioned transhipments belong to India. The mentioned
port possesses one of the biggest artificial harbours across the world. Due to this
fact, the Colombo port handles majority of the foreign trade as well as can be

10VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
from the port to be in
direct contact with
the work. This is the
tactical level part.
The level of
operation depends on
the efficiency of the
work and technology
involved.All the
required activities
should be identified
and planned keeping
accordance to their
schedule and failure
of the ships to
maintain the time
keeping accordance
to their schedule will
result in huge loss for
the ship as well as for
the traffic at the sea
route since it will
become unfavourable
creating further
delay.It is difficult to
control the time
required in travelling
to much of an extent.
That is why the focus
needs to be given to
the period spent by
the ships on docks.
The turnaround time
is dependent on the
performance and
organisation in the
ports and may hence
vary. The increased
demand for maritime
trade and shipping
has been met by the
port committee with
a decision of
expansion.
The Colombo Port is
situated in the south-
western shorses of
Kelani River, Sri
Lanka that is
connected to the
Indian Ocean. It is
one of bossiest port
around the world
where a huge number
of employees work
together in a very
systematic way to
maintain all the
porting and shipping
operations. As per the
last Audit report of
considered as a major seaport across the Indian ocean. In the year 2001, more than
642 thousand of individuals resided in the Colombo port.
Being the commercial centre of Sri Lanka, the Colombo port is consisting of
the head office for both local as well as foreign banks, insurance organizations
government offices as well as brokage houses. The entire manufacturing is done on
the basis of processing raw materials for exportation through the Colombo Port.
Some of the leading industries that transport materials through the mentioned port
include Jewellery industry, chemicals, glass, textiles, leather goods, cement, and
furniture. The Colombo port can be considered as the home of the second tallest
building of South Asia as well as the centre of a good number of commercial
interests. In the year 1948, The Colombo port along with Ceylon won independence
from the British empire and the changes followed the incidence was drastic. In the
year 1954, Elizabeth Quay was opened along with the completion of 16 alongside
berths with transit sheds and warehouses. The port cooperation was founded in the
year 1958. The local culture was repressed from centuries sue to colonial rule. Thus,
with the emergence of independence new culture, different laws, customs, clothing,
religions and even names emerged. The economy of Srilanka began to improve.
However, the visibility of the influence of Portuguese, Dutch as well as British culture
was visible.
According to Portopia (2017)(Anon., 2017), in the year 1980, the Colombo
port got ceased to be the capital of Srilanka. However, it is still considered to be the
heart of the island commerce. The capital moved to nearby Sri Jayewardenepura
Kotte, but most countries’ diplomatic missions remain in the Port of Colombo. While
the port authority of Srilanka was created in the year 1980s, two container terminals
were build by the need of the 80s and by the early 90s, three more were completed.
In the year 1996, the chief channel was deepened by 15 meter and on the
mentioned port reached the one million mark for handling of container TEUs. On
1997, the oil berths were opened and in the same year. A new container terminal
was initiated in the year 1998 along with a new container yard that began operating
the next year. In the year 1999, the Oluvil Lighthouse was commissioned, and the
Oluvil Maritime Training Center was opened. The South Asia Gateway Terminal
started operating, and a new 50 thousand DWT berth was constructed.
In the year 2000, a third berths at the Galle Port was initiated. In the same
year the Peliyagoda Container Freight station was opened. The second phase
development of the North Pier got stated ad the port opened a one stop
documentation centre opened its doors. In 2002, the multi-purpose Ashraf Quay was
inaugurated, along with the new Customer Service Center for LCL as well as break
bulk cargoes. In the year 2003, the Unity Container Terminal along with the SLPA
Maritime Museum was opened. In 2004, the Port of Colombo handled 2.2 million
TEUs of containerized cargo, and it reached 2.45 million TEUs in 2005.

11VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
National Economic
Council of Sri
Lanka, the vessel
turnaround time of
Colombo Port has
increased 15% from
2017 to 2018 with the
increasing number of
cargo transportation.
Sri Lanka Port
Authority (SLPA)
has also highlighted
the commercial and
developmental issues
caused by delay in
East Container
Terminal (ECT). The
chairman of SLPA
also stated that with
this increasing rate of
vessel turnaround
delay the import
export business
operation in Sri
Lanka is going to be
distracted
significantly within
next 5 years. From
different sources
different potential
reason has been
reported such as lack
of facilitation, poor
workforce strength,
lack of advancement
and others. However,
no research has been
done till now
regarding the current
situation in Colombo
port and the
underlying factors
behind the vessel
turnaround delay.
Efficient scheduling
and implementation
may require more
labor and machinery
from the port to be in
direct contact with
the work. This is the
tactical level part.
The level of
operation depends on
the efficiency of the
work and technology
involved.All the
required activities
should be identified
and planned keeping
accordance to their
2.3 Turnaround time and its impact
According to Guan et al. (2017)(Guan, et al., 2017), the most crucial factor
that is directly associated with the consumer satisfaction at the port terminal is the
waiting time. Thus, it can be understood that the port waiting time is one of the major
contributors of competitive advantage. It has been found that port terminals that
posse low waiting time posses the potential to attract more consumers, compared to
port terminals with prolonged waiting time. (LIM, et al., 2017)specify that one of the
major problems encountered by the port managers include prolonged waiting time
and queuing time at the berthing area. Prolonged waiting time impose negative
impact on the terminal efficiency of the port. Not only this, ship managers are found
to breath at port terminal that possess low waiting time and high efficiency. The
management of pots are highly concerned with the service rates since they believe
that that in enhancing of the service rate pose the potential to dramatically exceeds
the efficiency of the port.( Huang & Li, 2017), pointed out that ship waiting time near
the port container terminals involves different types of queue. The study's major
relevance in reducing turnaround times is that time is considered the most important
factor for shipping and delivering goods than the cost of transporting goods. Along
with this, the cost of transportation of goods cannot be changed by any of the
government ports since the rate charged as well as the price of the equipment
purchased is fixed by the government along with the Tariff Authority for Major Ports
(TAMP). (LIM, et al., 2017)stated that one of the major reason behind enhanced
investment cost includes delay of the ships. The sailors, before they initiate their
voyage are given schedule in order to ensure appropriate time of arrival, departure
as well as the time on which they will reach the next destination. All the mentioned
activities are planned keeping accordance to their schedule and failure of the ships
to maintain the time keeping accordance to their schedule will result in huge loss for
the ship as well as for the traffic at the sea route since it will become unfavourable
creating further delay. As per a survey conducted in the year 2013, a delay of 24
hours could cost a few billions for the shippers.
The major performance evaluation factor is delay in marine port where most
cargo transpiration and shipping operations are performed. This delay refers to the
amount of time it takes to undock a ship after the time of undocking. There are
several major procedures in a shipyard between docking and undocking, such as
unloading cargo, preparing new crew members, checking new cargo, carrying new
cargo through cargo cranes, loading new cargo, piloting, assigning new crew
members, and many more. To ensure the vessel turnaround efficiency, all of these
operations should be synchronized in a very precise manner. The average
turnaround time is less than a day for a good number of international ports such as
the port of Singapore. In order to enhance port efficiency in general and to enable
port management, the key to enhancing operational improvements are equipment
procurement, infrastructure development, effective port stakeholder communications,
improved company procedures, quicker procedures, streamlined and coordinated

12VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
of the ships to
maintain the time
keeping accordance
to their schedule will
result in huge loss for
the ship as well as for
the traffic at the sea
route since it will
become unfavourable
creating further
delay.It is difficult to
control the time
required in travelling
to much of an extent.
That is why the focus
needs to be given to
the period spent by
the ships on docks.
The turnaround time
is dependent on the
performance and
organisation in the
ports and may hence
vary. The increased
demand for maritime
trade and shipping
has been met by the
port committee with
a decision of
expansion.
operations, and decreased red tape and procedural inefficiencies.In this respect, the
community system of the ports possess the potential to help enhancing the efficiency
of transaction, reducing costs as well as to enhance reliability while the custom
reforms as well as automation can support faster cargo clearance along with
reducing the dwelling time. It is essential to build the security of the mentioned
system along with enhancing their resilience to the breaches in security and the
threats will be essential provided the growing exposure as well as vulnerability of the
port and shipping system to security attacks.
Considering the fact that the maritime access can get limited the restrictions in
draft, larger container ship normal requires fewer ports. The physical features of the
ship along with their handling requirements add pressure to the berths as well as the
crane operations. In order to provide quick service to the larger sized ships, cranes
over a prolonged working hour as well as for more shifts are used. For instance, it
was reported that in the ports near Los Angeles as well as long Beach, terminals
around to be deploying six cranes per a ship given that calls by 8,000 TEU-capacity
ships are becoming the norm. With the size of the ships further getting enhanced to
14,000 TEUs, the usage of seven or eight cranes can be expected (JOC.com, 2014).
Long with this, larger port calls may need the ships to spend or tie at the berth that in
turn reduces the availability of the crane. More time is required for lashing as well as
unlashing container berths (Port Economics , 2017).
In spite of the modest improvement in the seaborne trade volumes across the
world in the year 2016, the performance of the world seaports are getting adversely
affected due to weaker world economic growth, dwindling merchandise trade
volumes and rising cost pressures. While these trends are found to be affecting all
ports the mostly affected type of port includes the container ports. Throughout the
year 2016 until the mid-2017, the world container ports continued to deal with the
deployment of ever larger ships, by cascading the vessels from the chief trade lanes
to the secondary routs, enlacing concentration in the liner shipping, enhancing
consolidation activities and cyber security treat and reshuffling the liner ship
alliances.
Globalisation of trade and commerce has decreased the barriers between the
countries. Goods and products can be shipped from one place to another for the
benefit of the people. It also acts as a business process where profit is gained by
delivering and shipping goods. It can be understood that resources and capital is at
stake in the system. Also, if we consider this problem with respect to supply chain, it
will appear that increased turnaround time will mean that the time taken to produce
and deliver goods is increased( Huang & Li, 2017).This factor is likely to impact
several industries and their customer satisfaction.

13VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
2.4 Factors associated with turnaround time
According to (Balland, et al., 2015),the turnaround time is highly dependent on
the performance as well as administration in the ports and hence possess the
chance to vary. The enhanced demand for maritime trade as well as shipping has
been met by the sport committee of the sports with a decision of expansion. A good
number of harbours have already been added for accommodating the increase
number of vessels. This offer results in stress on the previously organized system as
changes have to be made for accounting for a greater number of ships as well as
goods. Therefore, the time of turnaround is directly associated to the efficiency of the
port. There present three levels that requires to be looked into for improving the
system(Dhingra, et al., 2017). It is comprised of the strategic level, the tactical level
as well as the operational level. When it comes to the strategic level, the managers
of the port requires to be ensured that the scheduling of the ships is highly effective
and possess no scope for the wastage of time. Effective implementation a well as
scheduling may require the port to hire more potential and skilled employees along
with the machines that remains in direct touch with the work. This in turn, forms a
part of the tactical level (Balland, et al., 2015).When it come to the operation level,
(Dhingra, et al., 2017), opined that it is highly dependent on the efficiency of the
labour along with the technology involved. Hence it is highly crucial for ports to
formulate device plans as well as policies that will ensure best adaptation of the
requirements associated with changing liner shipping market environment. In order
to mitigate the negative impact of increasing cost pressures, terminal operators,
ports and shipping lines should engage in closer cooperation.
In the marine port, where most cargo transpiration and shipping operations
are carried out, the major performance evaluation factor is delay. This delay refers to
how long it takes after undocking to undock a ship. All these operations should be
synchronized in a very precise manner to ensure the vessel turnaround efficiency.
The cost pressure may lead to enhancement of the port changes. However this may
prove to be difficult, given the current market trend. Ports as well as the terminals get
benefited from the participation of the private terminal operators, in terms of the
capital participation as well as the in relation to the transfer of technologies as well
as expertise. According to Drewry Maritime Research(Drewry, 2016 February), in
case the terminal operation a forced for leaving the market due to lower margin
along with refraining from investing in new capacity due to uncertain returns, there is
a possibility that for container port industry it is very complicated to service the liner
shipping sector especially when it comes to larger ships. Another instance includes
the work carried out with a group of 174 employees for sustainability reporting in
many ports of the International Association of Ports and Harbours and the World
Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure.From the last three years, the
public to private partnership have emerged as a mechanism for leveraging greater
private investment participation in port development and for accessing specialized
skills, innovations, and new technologies associated with infrastructure development,

14VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
operation and maintenance. The services is significant and along with the funding, it
is comprised of a crucial resource. Some of the major initiatives seeking advantages
that work on the performance measurement of the ports include portopia project that
brings together an international consortium of academic, industrial as well as
research partner that possess experience in port performance management.
According to Drewry Maritime Research (Drewry, 2016 February), considering the
fact that sport system of this era require highly specialized operational as well as
managerial skills along with the cutting–edge technologies , along with the expertise
of the private partners for maintaining, operating a well a building the transport
infrastructure. The chief aim is to support the European port industry with
performance data in particular for informing policy formulation and monitor
implementation(Anon., 2017). One of the chief objectives of this working group
includes developing guidance associated with sustainability reporting for ports.
However, while acknowledging the intrinsic constraints of such a measure, a
proxy for general port efficiency could be provided by shipping time in port or
turnaround moment as it measures the average time ships spend in port before
leaving for another location. There are many instances of time in port, measured in
days, using data gathered by Marine Traffic on ship motion.The average time
required for port corresponds to the distinguish between the time a ship enter the
limit of a port and the time it leaves those limits. Notwithstanding the fact that if a
ship's visit is linked to cargo operations or other operations such as bunkering,
repair, maintenance, storage and idling, time in port includes time before berth, time
spent at berth (dwelling and working hours) and time spent undocking and transiting
beyond port limits. While the averagetime does not measure the precise efficiency of
time in port due to the fact it does not distinguish between the waiting time, working
time, idle time, berth time along with the data provide an estimation of the overall
time in port. While the frequency of the calls are less, greater cargo volume are
handled per call. This in turn result in the deployment of larger vessels that in turn
create surges along with pressure on yard operations, given the ensuing peak. The
global average that is measured in TEUs that is handled per hectare can be
estimated it possess an increment by 2.5 percent in the year 2015. Considering the
fact that more equipments are required for moving the containers to and from the
staking areas, extra equipments are required. Along with this, pressure is also
imposed for restacking of the containers with the heal of increased number of gantry
cranes along with stacking density. (Guan, et al., 2017)stated that larger ports
includes volumes exert pressure on the use of the refer slots when it comes to
specialized cargo like refrigerated goods.
As soon as more equipment is needed for moving containers from the
stacking areas, additional equipment as well as labour is highly crucial. Pressure is
also forced on the restacking of the containers with the help of increased
requirements for gantry cranes of yards as well as stacking density. Larger port call
volumes exert pressure on the use of refers lots when it comes to specialized cargo
such as refrigerated goods. Sharp enhancements also create higher gate access

15VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
demands, with more trucks arriving and leaving more containers. This in turn creates
enhanced local congestion as more trucks are waiting for entering the port. Overall,
larger container provides economics of scale at sea. However these economics do
not necessarily extend to the ports. According to researchers, 1 percent in growth in
the size of the ship as well as its auxiliary industry operations enhances time in port
by nearly 2.9 percent along with creating diseconomies of scales that are gained at
sea are lost at ports (Guan, et al., 2017).
The turnaround time is dependent on the performance and organisation in the
ports and may hence vary. The increased demand for maritime trade and shipping
has been met by the port committee with a decision of expansion. More harbours
have been added to accommodate the increased number of vessels. This causes
stress on the previously organised system as changes have to be made to account
for more number of ships and goods. Hence turnaround time is directly related to
port efficiency. There are three levels that need to be looked into to improve the
system (Dhingra, et al., 2017). It comprises the strategic level, tactical level and the
operational level. In the strategic level, the port managers need to ensure that their
scheduling of ships is effective and has no scope for wastage of time. Efficient
scheduling and implementation may require the port the hire more labour and
machines which will be in direct touch with the work. This forms the part of the
tactical level (Balland, et al., 2015). The operational level is dependent on the
efficiency of the labour and technology involved.
2.5 Porting strategies
The crucially of well-functioning sea ports for merchandise trade, industrial
activity, economic growth and globalized production processes cannot be overly
highlighted. To adapt to changes in the economic, institutional, regulatory and
operating landscape most of the ports experience a constant pressure as key nodes
in global transport chains that provide market access, support supply chains, and link
consumers and producers. Growth of the competitive forces affects ports that
emphasis on the requirements for greater performance levels which enhances
beyond the criteria More and more, ports are expected to enhance the performance
in other areas that include security, safety, resource conservation, environmental
protection and social inclusion, for example. The major performance assessment
factor is delay in the marine port, where most cargo transpiration and shipping
operations are performed. This delay refers to the length of time it takes to undock a
ship after undocking. There are several major docking and undocking procedures in
a shipyard, such as unloading cargo, preparing new crew members, checking new
cargo, carrying new cargo through freight cranes, loading new cargo, piloting,
assigning new crew members, and more. To ensure the vessel's turnaround
efficiency, all these operations should be synchronized in a very precise way.
These factors are pertinent to the universal sustainability agenda along with
the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Along with this, a good

16VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
number of megatrends are imposing impact on the port industry. These trends
involve increasing concentration as well as consolidation in the liner shipping market,
increasing ship size and mega-alliances emerging. Achieving higher port
performance levels and enabling the private sector to participate in container port
operations, particularly through public-private partnerships and port concessions,
have become key considerations in this context. In view of recent developments
affecting the liner shipping market, productivity gains and improved efficiency and
operational performance are becoming even more important. Adapting to the new
pattern demonstrate those ports are needed for upgrading their performance,
involving in turnaround time, dwell time, gate operations, hinterland connections and
intermodal connectivity.
These involves indicators which review the operation rates as well as
efficiency of cranes, berths, yards, gates and gangs: TEUs per year per crane,
vessel per year per berth, yearly TEUs per hectare as well as moves per crane-hour.
For example, average performance levels in a large port can reach 110,000 TEUs
per year per crane, 25–40 crane moves per hour, a dwell time of 5–7 days for
imported boxes and 3–5 days for exported boxes(Merk & Notteboom, 2013).
However, shipping time in port or turnaround time could provide a proxy for overall
port performance during the reorganization of the intrinsic limitations of
measurement, as it measures the average time ships spend in a port before
departing to another destination. The average port time associated to the
differentiation between the time a ship enters the boundaries of a port and the time it
leaves those boundaries. Where the ship's visit is linked to cargo operationsas well
asoperation such as storage, repair, bunkering, maintenance, and idling, time in port
includes time before berth, time invested at berth (dwelling and working hours) and
undocking and travellingtime beyond the limit of the port.
Researchers were concerned about the need to make the process as efficient
as possible in order to increase the profit margin. Since it is a large-scale problem,
many variables and impactors are involved(LIM, et al., 2017). It is difficult to control
the time required in travelling to much of an extent. That is why the focus needs to
be given to the period spent by the ships on docks.
2.6 Summary
Trade and trade globalizationhave reduced barriers between countries. Goods
and products can be shipped to the benefit of the people from one place to another.
It also acts as a business process in which the delivery and shipping of goods yields
profit. It can be understood that the system involves resources and capital.
Furthermore, if we consider this problem with regard to the supply chain, it will
appear that increased turnaround time will result in an increase in the time taken to
produce and deliver goods. Multiple industries and their customer satisfaction are
likely to impact this factor. Researchers were concerned about the need to make the
process as efficient as possible in order to increase the profit margin. Because it is a

17VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
large-scale issue, it involves many variables and impactors. To a great extent, it is
difficult to control the time required to travel. Therefore, the focus must be on the
period spent on docks by the ships. The turnaround time depends on the ports '
performance and organization and can therefore vary. The Port Committee met the
increased demand for maritime trade and shipping with an expansion decision. More
harbours have been added to accommodate the increased number of vessels. This
causes stress on the previously organised system as changes have to be made to
account for more number of ships and goods. Hence turnaround time is directly
related to port efficiency. There are three levels that need to be looked into to
improve the system. It comprises the strategic level, tactical level and the operational
level. In the strategic level, the port managers need to ensure that their scheduling of
ships is effective and has no scope for wastage of time. Efficient scheduling and
implementation may require more labour and machinery from the port to be in direct
contact with the work. This is the tactical level part. The level of operation depends
on the efficiency of the work and technology involved.
2.7 Literature Gap
The main objective of this literature review is to identify the factors that
associated with and increase the vessel turnaround time for Colombo port trust while
collecting adequate evidences to provide suggestions to reduce turnaround time.
Based on this study, the suggestion to control the increase in turnaround time is
made. The main factors that cause delays in this project are: delay in the time of pre-
detention and delay during working hours and operational delays. However, this
literature review was limited to, comparison and analysis of quantitative factors
influencing turnaround time that can be physically measured as well as reliable data
were not available in the International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics
Special Issues to conduct a detailed comparative study of operational and financial
aspects of the Colombo port with other major ports in Sri Lanka.

18VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Figure :2.2 Tops category for terminals under 4 m TEUs at 2017 AFLAS in Singapore(FT, 2017)
Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1 Introduction
The purpose of the methodology is to analyse the various types of research
methods and tools and to select the most appropriate research method and tools for
the research. This section will present the research methodologies and the selection
of methodology of this research with rationale. The structure of this methodological
discussion is based on research onion. Research onion is conceptual representation
of methodological selection procedures where the outer layer of the onion implies the
abstract concept of the research such as research philosophy and the inner layer
implies the practically implementable aspects of the method such as data collection.
Therefore, this methodology presents this structure from the outer most layer to inter
most layer of the research onion that consists of Research Philosophy, Approach,
Design, Sampling, Data collection and Analysis. Apart from that, this methodology
also presents the ethical consideration of this research method.
3.2 Research Philosophy
The research philosophy implies the perceptual notion of understand a topic
to evaluate through certain methodological process. Research philosophy is the
perception of the research on a particular topic to conduct a study accordingly. Four
types of research philosophies are mostly used to select the method of any research
those are positivism, interpretivism, realism and pragmatism. The positivism
research philosophy has been followed when the research tries to find out the facts
through the scientific and rational explanation while conducting real life experiment.
In interpretivism philosophy the research is conducted to interpret a fact to develop
different perspectives. Realism is a philosophy of evaluating the real facts that can
be already experienced through sensory organs. The pragmatism philosophy is a
mixed philosophical approach of positivism and interpretivism. For this research the
positivism research philosophy has been chosen
3.3 Research Approach
Research approach implies the approach of utilising the knowledge and
understanding about the topic to conduct the study in a specific way. Research
approach also helps to find the research design. Inductive, deductive and Abductive
are three major research approaches that are used in most of the researches. The
inductive approach allows introducing a new concept or implication through the
research. The deductive approach allows deduce the authenticity or viability of a

19VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
statement or perception. Abductive research approach allows abducting the concept
from another research and to utilise in a research. This research does not have any
pre-determined assumption or hypothesis about vessel turnaround delay. The
purpose of the approach used in this study is to find the existing cause of the delay
and the potential strategies to improve the situations. Therefore, for this research the
inductive research approach has been chosen.
3.4 Research Design
Research design implies the design of conducting the research considering
the selected tools and their implementation in the study. Based on the study design
the data collection of analysis tools and their utility have been chosen. The mostly
used research designs are systematic research, Experimental study, cross sectional
study, longitudinal study, case study, reflection and others. For this research the
cross-sectional structured interview design has been used.However, this research
has been utilised a mixed method that allowed this study to conduct a quantitative
analysis as well as the qualitative analysis. The research design can also be
subdivided into three categories namely exploratory research, explanatory research
and descriptive research. The explanatory research design is aimed at exploring
underlying factors of a result. On the other hand, the explanatory research explains a
natural or social phenomenon with evidence based information. Descriptive study
implies the exploration of a topic while founding the implications out of topic as well.
Considering the aim and purpose of this research, the chosen research design for
this research is descriptive.
3.5 Target Population and sampling
The target population of this data collection process is the employees
Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) and ship crew members who are
involved in day to day technical and operational activities of port. The reason behind
this population for data collection is that the ground level employees witness the
operational dilemmas, opportunities and restriction on daily basis. Therefore, from
the ground level employees the data about current condition in CICT can be
collected with proper authenticity and reliability. Along with the population selection
sampling method is another major concern. Probability sampling and non-probability
sampling are major two types of sampling styles. In Probability sampling each
person of target population has equal potentiality to get selected. In this research the
non-probability random sampling has been done to select 50 responses from the
total number of collected responses from the data collection.

20VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
3.6 Data collection
The data collection process had two options to choose from namely the
primary data collection and the secondary data collection. The primary data
collection can be done through real time field based data collection tools such as
survey, interview, experiment, observation and others. Data will be collected from
the employees Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) and ship crew
members to discuss their opinions on the factors that impact turnaround time. A
structured interview has been conducted with the help of survey Questionnaire to
gather the information about the port and the operations.Their answers will be
grouped for the individual factors and then based on the factors that can be
controlled and other caused due natural discrepancies. The collected data-type can
be segregated into two categories namely respondent’s background and
respondent’s opinion. In respondent’s background the experience and job role
details have been collected. In the respondent’s opinion the cause of turnaround
delay and the potential improvement scopes have been collected.
3.7 Data analysis
Data analysis can be done through qualitative and quantitative data analysis.
Quantitative data analysis process is used to analyse numerical data through
mathematical and statistical data analysis process. For data analysis the quantitative
data analysis process has been used. The experience details of the respondents
have been examined through percentage distribution based descriptive statistics. For
other data analysis of the major causes of the turnaround delay the mean value
distribution statistics have been used considering mean, median, mode and standard
deviation. Apart from that the correlation statistics has been used to find the
association between employees experience and their opinion. For this statistical
analysis the Microsoft Excel software has been used.
3.8 Ethical Consideration
Ethical consideration of a research defines the viability, authenticity and
reliability of a research. The ethical consideration of any research has two aspects
namely the data privacy and consent of the respondents. In this research method
both aspects of ethics have been considered. Before conducting the survey, a
consent form was distributed among the target participants mentioning the purpose
of this survey while assuring the privacy of the research data. After receiving the
acknowledgement from the participant the survey has been conducted. After
collecting the raw data from the survey it has been stored in a secured database that
can be only accessed by only the authentic personnel. It has been also ensured that

21VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
the personal information collected from this survey will not be exposed in this
research and will not be used any other purpose as well.
3.9 Summary
From the above discussion about this research method, it has been found that
for this research the positivism research philosophy has been chosen. As research
approach, for this research the inductive research approach has been chosen. As
research design for this research the cross-sectional structured interview design has
been used. In this research the probability random sampling has been done to select
50 responses from the total number of collected responses from the data collection
through using a survey questionnaire based structured interview process. Data has
been collected from the employees Colombo International Container Terminal
(CICT) and ship crew members to discuss their opinions on the factors that impact
turnaround time. For data analysis the percentage distribution andmean value
distribution statistics have been used considering mean, median, mode and standard
deviation. Apart from that the correlation statistics has been used to find the
association between employees experience and their opinion. For this statistical
analysis the Microsoft Excel software has been used.
Figure 3:1(source:Srilanka Port Authority & Daily FT) (Hundlani, 2018)

22VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Chapter 4: Analysis & discussion
4.1 Introduction:
In this analysis section the demographical study has been done considering
the Job area and experience. Apart from that, the opinion of the participants has
been analysed through descriptive study and correlation statics. After that the
suggestions supported by the respondents have been also analysed. After that the
discussion on this result have been done to finding the implications out of these
results.
4.2 Demographic study
Gender
Frequency Percentage
Male 36 72
Female 12 24
Others 2 4
Table 4.1: Demographic Study – Gender
Gender
Male
Female
Others
Figure 4:1 Pie chart for gender percentage
From the above results it can be found that most of the respondents are male.
The second larger numbers of respondents are female.
Age
Frequency Percentage
20 to 25 11 22
26 to 36 27 54
37 to 50 6 12
51 to 60 4 8
More than 60 2 4
Table 4.2: Demographic Study – Age

23VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Age
20 to 25
26 to 36
37 to 50
51 to 60
More than 60
Figure 4:2 Pie chart for age percentage
From the above results it can be found that most of the respondents are 26 to
36 years old. The second larger number of respondents are 20 to 25 years old. The
third larger number of respondents are 37 to 50 years old. The number of
respondents of more than 50 years of age is extremely low. Therefore, most
respondents belong to 20 to 50 years of age.
Origin
Frequency Percentage
Sri Lanka 21 42
India 14 28
Other Asian countries 8 16
Middle East 5 10
Other 2 4
Table 4.3: Demographic Study – origin
From the above results it can be found that most of the respondents are from
Sri Lanka. The second larger number of respondents isfrom India. The third larger
numbers of respondents arefrom other Asian countries. Very insignificant amountof
respondents are from Middle East. low. The number ofemployees from other
countries is negligible.

24VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Job area
Frequency Percentage
Cargo loading unloading 16 32
Gang member 14 28
Repairingand maintenance 12 24
Port Operatives 6 12
Operational Management 2 4
Table 4.4: Demographic Study – Job area
Job Area
Cargo loading unloading
Gang member
Repairing and maintenance
Port Operatives
Operational Management
Figure 4:3 Pie chart for Job area percentage
From the above results it can be found that most of the respondents are
working in loading and unloading area. The second larger number of respondents is
the gang members who work as sheep crew members. The number of repairing and
maintenance worker is also very high. However, the number of port operatives and
operational management are comparatively lower than other types of employee.
Therefore, the responses will be biased towards the employees of cargo loading
unloading, gang members and repairing and maintenance workers.
Experience in industry
Frequency Percentage
Less than 1 year 5 10
1 to 3 years 17 34
3 to 6 years 13 26
6 to 10 years 11 22
More than 10 years 4 8
Table 4.5: Demographic Study – Experience in industry
From the above results it can be found that most of the respondents are
working from past 1 to 3 years in this industry. The second larger number of

25VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
respondents has the working experience of 3 to 6 years. The number of workers with
experience of 6 to 10 years is also high. However, the number of employees with
less than 1 year of experience is very low. On the other hand, the number of
respondents having more than 10 years of experience is extremely low. Therefore,
the responses will be biased towards the employees who have more than 1 to 10
years of experience in this marine industry.
Experience in CICT
Frequency Percentage
Less than 1 year 17 34
1 to 3 years 13 26
3 to 6 years 11 22
6 to 10 years 7 14
More than 10 years 2 4
Table 4.6: Demographic Study – Experience in CICT
From the above results it can be found that most of the respondents are
working from less than 1 year in Colombo Port. The second larger number of
respondents has the working experience of 1 to 3 years in Colombo port. The
number of workers with experience of 3 to 6 years is also high. However, the
number of employees with 6 to 10 years of experience in Colombo port is very low.
On the other hand, the number of respondents having more than 10 years of
experience in Colombo port is extremely low. Therefore, the responses will be
biased towards the employees who have less than 1 to 6 years of experience in
Colombo port.
4.3 Turnaround delay causes
Major cause of turnaround delay
Mean Median Mode Standard
Deviation
Breathing delay 2.1 2 1 1.02
Cargo Transferring
Delays 3.64 4 5 1.34
Cargo Availability Delay 2.78 3 3 0.76
Table 4.7: Major cause of turnaround delay

26VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Breathing delay Cargo Transferring
Delays Cargo Availability
Delay
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Causes of Delay
Figure 4:4 Major cause of VTT delays
The mean value of Cargo Transferring Delays as the cause of vessel
turnaround delay in Colombo port is 3.6. The median value of Cargo Transferring
Delays as the cause of vessel turnaround delay in Colombo port is 4. The mode
value of Cargo Transferring Delays as the cause of vessel turnaround delay in
Colombo port is 5. The standard deviation of 1.34 shows there is a significant
amount of fluctuation in these responses. Overly, this is the most rated cause of
vessel turnaround delay. The mean value of breathing delay as the cause of vessel
turnaround delay in Colombo port is 2.1. The median value of breathing delay as the
cause of vessel turnaround delay in Colombo port is 2. The mode value of breathing
delay as the cause of vessel turnaround delay in Colombo port is 1. The standard
deviation of 1.02 shows there is a considerable amount of fluctuation in these
responses. . Overly, this is the second highly rated cause of vessel turnaround delay.
The mean value of Cargo Availability Delays as the cause of vessel turnaround delay
in Colombo port is 2.78. The median value of Cargo Availability Delays as the cause
of vessel turnaround delay in Colombo port is 3. The mode value of Cargo
Availability Delays as the cause of vessel turnaround delay in Colombo port is 3. The
standard deviation of 0.76 shows there is a very negligible amount of fluctuation in
these responses. Therefore, Cargo Availability Delays is the third reason of vessel
turnaround delay in Colombo port.
Table 4.8: Correlation of opinions and experience
Correlation
Experience industry Experience_CICT
Experience industry 1 0.395789036
Experience_CICT 0.395789036 1
Breathing delay -0.483303778 -0.611869278
Cargo_Transferring_Delays 0.635987533 0.779406142
Cargo_Availability_Delay -0.041569857 0.113510374

27VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
From the above correlation statistics, it has been found that the rating of cargo
transferring delay has the correlation coefficient of 0.64 to 0.77 with employee
experience. Therefore, most of the experience employees rated cargo transferring
delay as highest cause of vessel turnaround delay in Colombo port. Breathing delay
has the negative correlation coefficient of -0.48 to -0.61 with employee experience.
Therefore, most of the less experienced employees rated Breathing delay as highest
cause of vessel turnaround delay in Colombo port. However, the cargo availability
has almost no significant correlation with employee experience. Therefore, from the
correlation it can be clearly seen that Cargo Transferring Delay is the major cause of
vessel turnaround delay where Breathing delay is the comparatively new cause of
vessel turnaround delay.
Breathing Delay Cause
Frequency Percentage
Unavailability of berths 9 18
Weather condition 6 12
Documentation delay 3 6
Pilotage Delays 29 58
Others 3 6
Table 4.9: Major cause of Breathing Delay
From the above results it can be found that most of the respondents said that
pilotage delay is the major cause of breathing delay in Colombo Port. Moderate
number of employees supported that unavailability of berth and weather conditions
are the cause of breathing delay. However, the documentation delay and other
breathing delay are very insignificant.
The major cause of Cargo Transfer delay
Frequency Percentage
Quay Crane operating speed 7 14
Unavailability of equipment operators 15 30
Equipment breakdown 6 12
Lack of Yard transferred equipments 21 42
Others 1 2
Table 4.10: Major cause of Cargo Transfer delay

28VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Quay Crane
operating speed Unavailability of
equipment
operators
Equipment
breakdown Lack of Yard
transferred
equipments
Others
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Major Causes of Cargo Transfer Delay
Figure 4:5 Major cause of cargo transfer delays
From the above results it can be found that most of the respondents
supported that Lack of Yard transferred equipment is the major cause of Cargo
Transfer delay in Colombo port. The second larger number of respondents has
supported that Unavailability of equipment operators are the reason behind the
Cargo Transfer delay in Colombo port. The number of workers that supported Quay
Crane operating speed and Equipment breakdown is comparatively low.
The major cause of Cargo Availability
Frequency Percentage
Cargo unavailability 15 30
Cargo clearance 28 56
Others 7 14
Table 4.11: Major cause of Cargo Availability Delay
From the above results it can be found that most of the respondents
supported that Cargo clearance is the major cause of Cargo Availability delay in
Colombo port. The second larger number of respondents has supported that Cargo
unavailability is the reason behind the Cargo Availability delay in Colombo port. The
number of workers that supported other reasons is comparatively low.

29VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
4.4 Suggestions
Suggestions to minimise the delays
Frequency Percentage
Increasing workforce 14 28
Training and development 11 22
Improving equipment quality 15 30
Better operational management 8 16
Others 2 4
Table 4.12: Suggestions to minimise the delays
Increasing
workforce Training and
development Improving
equipment quality Better operational
management Others
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Suggestions
Figure 4:6suggestions
From the above results it can be found that most of the respondents suggested that
Improving equipment quality will help the Colombo port to minimise the vessel
turnaround delay. The second larger number of respondents has suggested that
Increasing workforce will help the Colombo port to minimise the vessel turnaround
delay. The third larger number of respondents has suggested Training and
development will help the Colombo port to minimise the vessel turnaround delay.
The number of workers suggested better management operations and other reasons
are comparatively low.
4.5 Other factors
Is Port Opening Adequate
Frequency Percentage
YES 16 32
NO 34 68

30VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Table 4.13: Is Port Opening Adequate
From the above results it can be found that most of the respondents have
stated that the number of ports operating under Colombo Port Authority are not
adequate to serve their regular transportation.
Other Major Factors
Mean Median Mode Standard
Deviation
Audit Frequency 1.96 2 2 0.73
Initiative of Authority 2.4 2 2 0.88
Turnaround delay disrupts other
operation 3.8 4 4 0.95
Communication to authority 3.2 3.5 4 0.93
Communication from Authority 2.24 2 2 0.77
Table 4.14: Other Major Factors
Audit Frequency Initiative of
Authority Turnaround delay
disrupts other
operation
Communication to
authority Communication
from Authority
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
Mean Values of Other Factors
Figure 4:6 Mean Values o other factors
The mean value of Cargo audit frequency in Colombo port is 1.96. The
median value of audit frequency in Colombo port is 2. The mode value of audit
frequency in Colombo port is 2. The standard deviation of 0.73 shows there is very
insignificant amount of fluctuation in these responses. Overly, Most of the participant
stated that the audit operations have been executed very rarely in Colombo port. The
mean value of initiatives from authority in Colombo port is 2.4. The median value of
initiatives from authority for the improvement in Colombo port is 2. The mode value
of initiatives from authority audit in Colombo port is 2. The standard deviation of 0.88
shows there is very insignificant amount of fluctuation in these responses. Overly,
Most of the participant stated that the authority did not take proper initiative to solve

31VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
this problem of turnaround delay. The mean value of Turnaround delay disrupts
other operation in Colombo port is 3.8. The median value of Turnaround delay
disrupts other operation in Colombo port is 4. The mode value of Turnaround delay
disrupts other operation in Colombo port is 4. The standard deviation of 0.95 shows
there is very insignificant amount of fluctuation in these responses. Overly, Most of
the participant stated that the Turnaround delay highly disrupts other operation. The
mean value of Communication to authority in Colombo port is 3.2. The median value
of Communication to authority in Colombo port is 3.5. The mode value of
Communication to authority in Colombo port is 4. The standard deviation of 0.93
shows there is very insignificant amount of fluctuation in these responses. Overly,
most of the participant stated that they try to communicate with the authority
frequently. The mean value of Communication from Authority in Colombo port is
2.24. The median value of Communication from Authority in Colombo port is 2. The
mode value of Communication from Authority in Colombo port is 2. The standard
deviation of 0.77 shows there is very insignificant amount of fluctuation in these
responses. Overly, most of the participant stated that the authority does not
communicate properly with the workforce regarding the turnaround delay and
possible interventions.
4.6Discussion
From the descriptive statistical analysis of demographic details it has been
found that the responses will be biased towards the employees of cargo loading
unloading, gang members and repairing and maintenance workers. On the other
hand it has been also found that the responses will be biased towards the
employees who have more than 1 to 10 years of experience in this marine industry.
In terms of experience in Colombo port, the responses will be biased towards the
employees who have less than 1 to 6 years of experience in Colombo
port.Therefore, the respondents are mostly distributed as per the various parameters
of variable that can develop a less biased research outcome. From the descriptive
study as well as the correlation statistics it has been found that Cargo Availability
Delays is the third reason of vessel turnaround delay in Colombo port. From the
correlation it can be clearly seen that Cargo Transferring Delay is the major cause of
vessel turnaround delay where Breathing delay is the comparatively new cause of
vessel turnaround delay. This factor is likely to impact several industries and their
customer satisfaction. Researchers have been concerned about the need to make
the process most effective so that the profit margin can be increased. It also acts as
a business process where profit is gained by delivering and shipping goods. It can be
understood that resources and capital is at stake in the system. Also, if we consider
this problem with respect to supply chain, it will appear that increased turnaround
time will mean that the time taken to produce and deliver goods is increased.
From the above results it can be found that most of the respondents said that
pilotage delay is the major cause of breathing delay in Colombo Port. Moderate

32VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
number of employees supported that unavailability of berth and weather conditions
are the cause of breathing delay. However, the documentation delay and other
breathing delay are very insignificant. From the descriptive study it can be found that
most of the respondents supported that Lack of Yard transferred equipments is the
major cause of Cargo Transfer delay in Colombo port. The second larger number of
respondents has supported that Unavailability of equipment operators are the reason
behind the Cargo Transfer delay in Colombo port. That is why the focus needs to be
given to the period spent by the ships on docks. The turnaround time is dependent
on the performance and organisation in the ports and may hence vary. The
increased demand for maritime trade and shipping has been met by the port
committee with a decision of expansion. The number of workers that supported Quay
Crane operating speed and Equipment breakdown is comparatively low. From the
above results it can be found that most of the respondents supported that Cargo
clearance is the major cause of Cargo Availability delay in Colombo port. From the
above results it can be found that most of the respondents suggested that Improving
equipment quality will help the Colombo port to minimise the vessel turnaround
delay. The second larger number of respondents has suggested that Increasing
workforce will help the Colombo port to minimise the vessel turnaround delay. The
third larger number of respondents has suggested Training and development will
help the Colombo port to minimise the vessel turnaround delay. To accommodate
the increased number of vessels, more harbours should be added. This causes
stress on the previously organized system as it is necessary to make changes in
order to account for more ships and goods. The turnaround time is therefore directly
related to the efficiency of the port. To improve the system, there are three levels
that need to be examined. It includes the level of strategic, tactical, and operational.
One of the most important factors associated with customer satisfaction at
port terminals is ship waiting time. One of the major contributors is the competitive
advantage of a port terminal ship waiting time. Low-waited port terminals can attract
more ships than port terminals. Waiting and queuing times in port terminal berthing
area is the biggest problem faced by port managers. Long waiting times have a
negative impact on port terminal efficiency and ship managers prefer to land with low
waiting time and high efficiency at a port terminal. Port management is concerned
with port terminal service rates because the efficiency of service port rates can be
dramatically increased. On the other hand, ship / control and port customers are
concerned about waiting time, meaning they have tried to select a port terminal with
lower service waiting time. Port management at port terminals focused on port output
rate affecting port terminal productivity. On the other hand, customers of port and
ship management have to wait for terminals. The ship waiting time in port container
terminals includes different types of queue.
In order to decrease VTT, taking the model into account, quay crane rate should be
increased. In order to increase the quay crane rate deploying high productive cranes,
“crane dual cycling” and “transport pooling” are recommended.

33VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Crane Dual Cycle
In this operational and technological improvement, elimination of crane movement
without a container in QC operation, the crane is made more productive. In the single
cycle, in discharging and loading, crane moves carrying one container; in one of the
movement the crane carries no load. When unloading, the crane is empty when
running back to the vessel. When loading, the crane is empty when it is coming back
to the quay (Goodchild & Daganzo, 2006).Figure 2.2 (a) below shows that in one
operational cycle crane performs single loading or single discharge for each
movement (Zhang & Kim, 2009).
Therefore, the crane should perform two cycles to handle two containers. In the
Figure 2.2 (b) below, the dual cycle crane does not have an empty movement.
Figure 4:7 Comparing the Single Cycle and Dual Cycle QC Movement
(Zhang & Kim, 2009)
4.6 Summary
From this study, it was found that the maintenance of low vessel turnaround
delays a business process in which the delivery and shipping of goods yields profit. It

34VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
can be understood that the system involves resources and capital. Furthermore, if
we consider this problem with regard to the supply chain, it will appear that increased
turnaround time will result in an increase in the time taken to produce and deliver
goods. Cargo Transferring Delay is the main cause of vessel turnaround delay where
the relatively new cause of vessel turnaround delay is breathing delay. Lack of Yard
transferred equipment and unavailability of equipment operators is the main cause of
delay in Cargo Transfer in the port of Colombo. Pilotage delay has been found to be
the major cause of delay in breathing in Colombo Port. Based on the results found in
this study, it can be stated that improving the quality of the equipment will help the
port of Colombo to minimize the delay in the turnaround of the vessel. Increasing
workforce and adequate training and development will help the port of Colombo
minimize the turnaround delay of the vessel.

35VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendation:
5.1 Summary:
The Colombo Port is situated in the south-western shorses of Kelani River, Sri
Lanka that is connected to the Indian Ocean. It is one of bossiest port around the
world where a huge number of employees work together in a very systematic way to
maintain all the porting and shipping operations. At port terminals, one of the most
important factors related to customer satisfaction is ship waiting time. As per the last
Audit report of General of the National Economic Council of Sri Lanka, the vessel
turnaround time of Colombo Port has increased significantly with the increasing
number of cargo transportation. The purpose of this research is to assess the need
and consequence of lowering the turnaround time while identifying the factors that
have an impact on vessel turnaround time in Colombo Port and To find the ways in
which vessel turnaround time can be minimised in Colombo Port. In literature review
the secondary data has been collected and presented in thematic format. In the
method section the data collection and data analysis tool with ethical aspects have
been presented. As research design for this research the cross-sectional structured
interview design has been used. In this research the probability random sampling
has been done to select 50 responses from the total number of collected responses
from the data collection through using a survey questionnaire based structured
interview process. For data analysis the percentage distribution and mean value
distribution statistics have been used considering mean, median, mode and standard
deviation. Apart from that the correlation statistics has been used to find the
association between employees experience and their opinion.
5.2 Linking with Objectives:
In the following section the findings of this study have been presented with the
research objectives in order to present the feasibility, credibility and significance of
the research outcomes.
Objectives Findings
Needs and consequences
of lowering the turnaround
time
It also acts as a business process where profit is gained by
delivering and shipping goods. It can be understood that
resources and capital is at stake in the system. Also, if we
consider this problem with respect to supply chain, it will
appear that increased turnaround time will mean that the time
taken to produce and deliver goods is increased
Major factors impact on
vessel turnaround time
Cargo Transferring Delay is the major cause of vessel
turnaround delay where Breathing delay is the comparatively
new cause of vessel turnaround delay. Lack of Yard
transferred equipments and Unavailability of equipment
operators is the major cause of Cargo Transfer delay in

36VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Colombo port. It has been found that pilotage delay is the
major cause of breathing delay in Colombo Port.
The strategies to minimise
vessel turnaround time
As per the results found in this study it can be stated that
Improving equipment quality will significantly help the
Colombo port to minimise the vessel turnaround delay.
Increasing workforce and providing adequate Training and
development will help the Colombo port to minimise the
vessel turnaround delay.
Table 5.1: Linking with Objectives
5.3 Conclusion
The major performance evaluation factor is delay in marine port where most
cargo transpiration and shipping operations are performed. This delay refers to the
amount of time it takes to undock a ship after the time of undocking. There are
several major procedures in a shipyard between docking and undocking, such as
unloading cargo, preparing new crew members, checking new cargo, carrying new
cargo through cargo cranes, loading new cargo, piloting, assigning new crew
members, and many more. To ensure the vessel turnaround efficiency, all of these
operations should be synchronized in a very precise manner. From this study it has
been find that maintaining low vessel turnaround delay a business process where
profit is gained by delivering and shipping goods. It can be understood that
resources and capital is at stake in the system. Also, if we consider this problem with
respect to supply chain, it will appear that increased turnaround time will mean that
the time taken to produce and deliver goods is increased. Cargo Transferring Delay
is the major cause of vessel turnaround delay where Breathing delay is the
comparatively new cause of vessel turnaround delay. Lack of Yard transferred
equipments and Unavailability of equipment operators is the major cause of Cargo
Transfer delay in Colombo port. It has been found that pilotage delay is the major
cause of breathing delay in Colombo Port.As per the results found in this study it can
be stated that Improving equipment quality will significantly help the Colombo port to
minimise the vessel turnaround delay. Increasing workforce and providing adequate
Training and development will help the Colombo port to minimise the vessel
turnaround delay.
In the strategic level, the port managers need to ensure that their scheduling
of ships is effective and has no scope for wastage of time. Efficient scheduling and
implementation may require the port the hire more labour and machines which will
be in direct touch with the work. This forms the part of the tactical level. The
operational level is dependent on the efficiency of the labour and technology
involved. Globalisation of trade and commerce has decreased the barriers between
the countries. Goods and products can be shipped from one place to another for the

37VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
benefit of the people. It also acts as a business process where profit is gained by
delivering and shipping goods. It can be understood that resources and capital is at
stake in the system. Also, if we consider this problem with respect to supply chain, it
will appear that increased turnaround time will mean that the time taken to produce
and deliver goods is increased. This factor is likely to impact several industries and
their customer satisfaction. Researchers have been concerned about the need to
make the process most effective so that the profit margin can be increased. Since it
is a large-scale problem, many variables and impactors are involved. It is difficult to
control the time required in travelling to much of an extent. That is why the focus
needs to be given to the period spent by the ships on docks. The turnaround time is
dependent on the performance and organisation in the ports and may hence vary.
The increased demand for maritime trade and shipping has been met by the port
committee with a decision of expansion. More harbours have been added to
accommodate the increased number of vessels. This causes stress on the
previously organised system as changes have to be made to account for more
number of ships and goods. Hence turnaround time is directly related to port
efficiency. There are three levels that need to be looked into to improve the system.
It comprises the strategic level, tactical level and the operational level.
5.4 Limitations and further research
The project's main objective is to identify the factors that increase Colombo
port trust's vessel turnaround time and provide suggestions for reducing turnaround
time. The suggestion to control the increase in turnaround time is provided on the
basis of this study. The main factors causing delays in this project are: delay in pre-
detention time, and delay occurs during working hours and operational delays. This
study was limited to comparing and analyzing quantitative factors that influence
turnaround times that can be measured physically as well as reliable data were not
available in the International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Special
Issues to conduct a detailed comparative study with other major ports in Sri Lanka
on the operational and financial aspects of the Colombo port.

38VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Figure 5:1 Conceptual Framework (Source:((Easterby-Smith, et al.,
2008)
Figure 5:2 Factors for terminal delay (Source: Dhingra et al. 2017)
(Dhingra, et al., 2017)

39VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
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42VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Appendices
Appendix 1: Business Dissertation Supervision Monitoring Form

43VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT

44VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT

45VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Appendix 2: Survey
Q1 Your Gender Male Female Others
Q2 You Age in
years
20 to 25 26 to 36 37 to 50 51 to 60 More than
60
Q3 Place of origin Sri Lanka India Other Asian
country
Middle East Others
Q4 Your current
Job area
Cargo
loading
unloading
Gang
member
Repairing and
maintenance
Port
Operatives
Operational
Management
Q5 Your
experience in
Marin industry
Less than 1
year
1 to 3 years 3 to 6 years 6 to 10 years More than
10 years
Q6 Your
experience in
Colombo
International
Container
Terminals
(CICT)
Less than 1
year
1 to 3 years 3 to 6 years 6 to 10 years More than
10 years
Rate the major
cause of
turnaround
delay out of 5:
Q7 Breathing delay 1 2 3 4 5
Q8 Cargo
Transferring
Delays
1 2 3 4 5
Q9 Cargo
Availability
Delay
1 2 3 4 5
Q10 The major
cause of
Breathing delay
Unavailability
of berths
Weather
condition
Documentation
delay
Pilotage
Delays
Others
Q11 The major
cause of Cargo
Transfer delay
Quay Crane
operating
speed
Unavailability
of equipment
operators
Equipment
breakdown
Lack of Yard
transferred
equipments
Others
Q12 The major
cause of Cargo
Availability
Cargo
unavailability
Cargo
clearance
Others
Q13 Your
suggestions to
minimise the
delays
Increasing
workforce
Training and
development
Improving
equipment
quality
Better
operational
management
Others

46VESSEL TURNAROUND TIME IN COLOMBO PORT
Q14 Is the number of
new port
opening
adequate
Yes No
Q15 How frequently
auditing has
been done for
improvement
Never Rare Sometimes Frequently Very
Frequently
Q16 How frequently
training has
been given to
improve you
professional
skill
Never Rare Sometimes Frequently Very
Frequently
Q17 How much
initiatives took
the authority to
minimize the
delay
Null Very few Inadequate Adequate More than
required
Q18 Does
turnaround
delay also
disrupt other
operations
No Insignificantly Moderately Highly Very highly
Q19 Have you ever
tried to
communicate
regarding the
problem and
potential
solution with
your superior
Never Rare Sometimes Frequently Very
Frequently
Q20 Have your
received any
proactive
communication
from the
management or
authority
regarding the
delay related
issues?
Never Rare Sometimes Frequently Very
Frequently