Sri Lanka

In Colombo we work through vetted local partner suppliers, sourcing provisions, bonded stores and IMPA-coded items against each requisition. Speed matters more than stock here, because Colombo is a transshipment port before it is anything else: the vessel is alongside for a short, fixed window, and the question is never whether an item can be found in the country but whether it can be cleared and put over the rail before the ship sails.

The other four ports are served through the same Colombo partner suppliers. Galle and Kankesanthurai are consolidated through Colombo and run by road, with the departure timed against transit so fresh provisions arrive in condition rather than merely arriving. Hambantota is dispatched against a confirmed berthing time. Trincomalee takes delivery both alongside and at anchor, with a consolidated load from Colombo whenever an item is not already on the east coast.

The five ports are not variations on one another. Draft across the network runs 7.9–18.0m, spanning 4 distinct port types, and the deep-water berths at Hambantota and Trincomalee take tonnage Colombo cannot always accommodate. Trincomalee is one of the largest natural harbours in the world and stays workable in weather that restricts more exposed ports, which is worth knowing before it is needed. Galle and Kankesanthurai sit at the other end — shallow draft, limited alongside handling, everything trucked in and hand-delivered.

Whichever port the call is at, the quote is itemised line by line at cost. That is the part that does not change between them.