Theory was brought to vivid life when Colombo International Container Terminals (CICT) hosted a group of students recently.
The visit, organised in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) provided 22 students of the university of Moratuwa, the Kotelawala Defence University (KDU), Ocean University of Sri Lanka and CINEC Campus an opportunity to witness the working of a deep-water terminal – the only one of its kind in the region.
Presentations from CICT’s heads of department in the fields of operations, safety, engineering, human resources, commercial and marketing provided an insight into multiple aspects of the functioning of a port, and was followed by visits to a berth, the gantry cranes, yard and gate house.
A spokesperson for CICT said this visit was the first of four planned for the year, to enable students following degrees in supply chain, logistics and transport to get first-hand information, and to experience port operations as part of their education. CICT was pleased by the high level of interest shown by the visiting students and encouraged by the female representation in the group, the spokesperson said.
CICT already has a collaboration with CILT to provide job-based training opportunities for young people aspiring to careers in logistics and transport, under which CILT is the liaison between educational institutes and CICT, and CICT provides industrial exposure, training and employment opportunities to the candidates sourced by CILT.
The South Terminal of the Port of Colombo, the first and only operating deep-water terminal in South Asia, is equipped with facilities to handle the largest vessels afloat.