Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) has purchased three new reachstackers.

The new machines were handed over by SLPA chairman Prasantha Jayamanna during celebrations of the authority’s 43rd anniversary.

The reachstackers were purchased through the Sri Lankan Army at a cost of approximately SLR165 million (USD460,000), saving the port almost SLR500 million (USD1.4 million), according to the chairman.

He says that successful utilisation of this new equipment purchased at a comparatively low cost is expected to efficiently boost operational activities of the SLPA at a time when it’s hard to source such equipment in the open market.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority was formed in 1979 through the merger of the Colombo Port Commission Department and the two existing statutory corporations. 

The Ports Authority does not receive financial allocations from the government, but operates through its own revenue and resources.