1001 Smart Cities
🇱🇰 Colombo

Colombo Port Navis N4 Terminal Operating System

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 10 sourced claims · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

10 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

Every container at Colombo's harbor is tracked by GPS and RFID tags — a different system entirely from the automated cranes now transforming the port's newer terminals next door, run by different owners.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence🏛️ Officialgrades the sourcing — this entry states no impact figure
what does this mean?The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run bySri Lanka Ports Authority
Scale🏘️ District

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,167 documented projects · 🏙️ 1 more in Colombo · 📡 Sensors & IoT guide · 🚲 Mobility projects

Sri Lanka Ports Authority runs its state-operated Colombo berths — Jaya Container Terminal, with the East Container Terminal also named in its upgrade announcement — on the Navis N4 terminal operating system, live since 29 April 2021 and replacing a Navis SPARCS/EXPRESS setup from 2009. N4 handles ship and yard planning and gate control, links to the Cargo Management System through a Community Access Portal, and takes external users' verified-gross-mass declarations as VERMAS EDI uploads via a web portal. SLPA's own material has listed a DGPS-based position detection system as forthcoming since 2009, when it carried a target of March 2010, and the 2021 announcement still described it as 'to be introduced' — alongside yard automation, which appears as a forthcoming item there for the first time — the data layer here is planning software, not a sensor-tracked yard.

Live 📅 since 2021
🚲 MobilitySensors & IoT

Sources

↗ Sri Lanka Ports Authority — TMS & e-systems (operator)System description; VERMAS EDI upload live; DGPS-PDS listed as 'to be implemented in March, 2010' — never confirmed live; names JCT and UCT.
↗ SLPA News — SLPA Upgrades its Terminal Management System (operator)Published 9 May 2021 · updated 10 May 2021N4 go-live 29.04.2021 at JCT and ECT; PDS and yard automation 'will be introduced at the JCT and ECT in near future'.
↗ Business Wire — Navis N4 go-live at Colombo Port (vendor)Published 1 July 2021Vendor confirmation of the go-live; ~2.5M TEU annual throughput at the SLPA facility.
Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 10 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence Passport · public beta 10 addressable claims, 3 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The passport is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 10

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-faa89522a1dc5e78 descriptive
Sri Lanka Ports Authority runs its state-operated Colombo berths
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The port authority's own news release attributes both upgraded terminals to itself: "The Navis Sparcs / Express version 3.7 Terminal Management System (TMS) in use at Jaya Container Terminal ( JCT) and East Container Terminal (ECT) of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has been upgraded to N4." Sri Lanka Ports Authority is the state ports authority, and these are the berths it operates itself.
Caveat
The Port of Colombo also holds terminals run by other companies — South Asia Gateway Terminals, Colombo International Container Terminals and the West Container Terminal — and this entry describes none of them. The source speaks only for the port authority's own berths.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. SLPA News — SLPA Upgrades its Terminal Management System (operator)
Claim 2 clm-c87561886c294f27 descriptive
Jaya Container Terminal, with the East Container Terminal also named in its upgrade announcement
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The upgrade announcement names both terminals in its opening sentence: the terminal management system "in use at Jaya Container Terminal ( JCT) and East Container Terminal (ECT) of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has been upgraded to N4", and it repeats the pair throughout ("The establishment of N-4 software at the JCT and ECT of SLPA").
Caveat
The port authority's dated go-live notice on its own system page names only Jaya Container Terminal, spelled there as "Jaye Container Terminal". No source states when the East Container Terminal began running on the new system.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. SLPA News — SLPA Upgrades its Terminal Management System (operator)
Claim 3 clm-e5dd6195de713d5c quantitative
on the Navis N4 terminal operating system, live since 29 April 2021
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The port authority's system page carries the go-live notice: "We are pleased to inform you that the New Version of Navis Terminal Management System which is called N4 has been successfully implemented on 29th April 2021 at Jaye Container Terminal (JCT)." The software supplier's own release confirms the change independently of the date, stating that "Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) has gone live with Navis N4 at its Colombo Port".
Caveat
The date belongs to Jaya Container Terminal alone; neither source dates the East Container Terminal. The supplier's release gives no date at all.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Sri Lanka Ports Authority — TMS & e-systems (operator)
  2. Business Wire — Navis N4 go-live at Colombo Port (vendor)
Claim 4 clm-9126a156e1ea816a quantitative
replacing a Navis SPARCS/EXPRESS setup from 2009
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The system page dates the predecessor: "The Contract agreements were signed in 2008 ... As a result, SLPA replaced its age-old Terminal Operating System at JCT and UCT with Navis™ SPARCS ver. 3.10 and Navis™ EXPRESS ver. 2.9 in May, 2009."
Caveat
The two operator sources disagree on which version was replaced: the system page names SPARCS 3.10 and EXPRESS 2.9, while the 2021 announcement calls it "Sparcs / Express version 3.7". The 2009 installation covered Jaya Container Terminal and the Unity Container Terminal, not the East Container Terminal.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Sri Lanka Ports Authority — TMS & e-systems (operator)
Claim 5 clm-7d4a7d086d070379 quantitative
N4 handles ship and yard planning and gate control
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The announcement lists exactly these three functions: "The establishment of N-4 software at the JCT and ECT of SLPA will further enable efficient yard and ship planning and gate control that would elevate the SLPA's operational productivity."
Caveat
The wording describes what the software will enable at the point of installation rather than reporting how it is used, and no source measures any of the three functions.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. SLPA News — SLPA Upgrades its Terminal Management System (operator)
Claim 6 clm-b3eb75649e63ea5d descriptive
links to the Cargo Management System through a Community Access Portal
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The announcement names both systems in one sentence: "This new TMS N4, would enhance the capabilities of interactions between the Cargo Management System (CMS) improving the efficiency in clearing and export of local cargo facilitating the shippers and exporters through Community Access Portal (CAP)."
Caveat
The announcement does not say who runs the Cargo Management System; the attribution to Sri Lanka Customs appears in no listed source. It also promises an improvement in the interaction rather than reporting a completed interface.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. SLPA News — SLPA Upgrades its Terminal Management System (operator)
Claim 7 clm-ba6178303ed9e673 descriptive
takes external users' verified-gross-mass declarations as VERMAS EDI uploads via a web portal
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The system page instructs filers to move to a web upload: "Therefore all the external users who are in practice to send VERMAS (VGM) for SLPA, request to upload the VERMAS EDI files through the following link in future." The link on that page points to a web portal at n4cap.slpa.lk.
Caveat
The instruction addresses "external users" in general; shipping agents are not named as the filers, and the page does not say how many declarations arrive this way.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Sri Lanka Ports Authority — TMS & e-systems (operator)
Claim 8 clm-7fef7011b2587288 quantitative
SLPA's own material has listed a DGPS-based position detection system as forthcoming since 2009
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The system page describes the 2009 installation as including "a DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System)-based PDS (Position Detection System) solution (to be implemented in March, 2010) for container tracking" — a target date that the page has never updated. Twelve years later the upgrade announcement still places both items ahead: "The Position Detection System (PDS) and the Yard Automation that can be enacted with the N-4 software will also be introduced at the JCT and ECT in near future."
Caveat
Only the position detection system appears in the description of the 2009 installation; yard automation is named as forthcoming for the first time in the 2021 announcement. The system page carries no publication date of its own, so 2009 dates the installation it describes rather than the text.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Sri Lanka Ports Authority — TMS & e-systems (operator)
  2. SLPA News — SLPA Upgrades its Terminal Management System (operator)
Claim 9 clm-11dc98502536859a quantitative
the 2021 announcement still described it as 'to be introduced'
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The announcement of the N4 upgrade keeps both items in the future tense: "The Position Detection System (PDS) and the Yard Automation that can be enacted with the N-4 software will also be introduced at the JCT and ECT in near future."
Caveat
The quoted phrase is a shortening of the announcement, whose wording is "will also be introduced at the JCT and ECT in near future".

Sources carrying this claim

  1. SLPA News — SLPA Upgrades its Terminal Management System (operator)
Claim 10 clm-49497fe5859d1de8 descriptive
the data layer here is planning software, not a sensor-tracked yard
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The upgrade announcement places accurate container location after the upgrade rather than inside it: "The Position Detection System (PDS) and the Yard Automation that can be enacted with the N-4 software will also be introduced at the JCT and ECT in near future. Hence, this system will accurately locate all TEUs being operated at the terminal." The port authority's system page pulls the other way: it describes the installation already in place as including "an active Tag network for container movement with Gate control, a terminal-wide handheld and vehicular-mounted wireless network", which is sensing equipment in the yard. That page gives no date, no coverage and no evidence that the tag network is in service, while the position detection system listed beside it has been pending since a target of March 2010.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. SLPA News — SLPA Upgrades its Terminal Management System (operator)
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-08-22-evidence-baseline effective 2026-08-07 · created 2026-08-22

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:8d857c9ecbfc9339fbe6d13cd3999f17afbe9d9304882f3e9c9abb5ce30cb1e6
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
10
of 10 claims mapped
3
source dossiers
2
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
Sri Lanka Ports Authority
Actor types
utility
Funding model
public
Funding description
Not recorded
Cost
Not recorded
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

3 source dossiers

Sri Lanka Ports Authority — TMS & e-systems (operator) slpa.lk · 4 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-61da7d8efb781de5
Publisher
Name not classified · slpa.lk
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-07
Dossier created
2026-08-22
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

System description; VERMAS EDI upload live; DGPS-PDS listed as 'to be implemented in March, 2010' — never confirmed live; names JCT and UCT.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
SLPA News — SLPA Upgrades its Terminal Management System (operator) news.slpa.lk · 7 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-7cc371135095126a
Publisher
Name not classified · news.slpa.lk
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2021-05-09
Updated
2021-05-10
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-07
Dossier created
2026-08-22
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

N4 go-live 29.04.2021 at JCT and ECT; PDS and yard automation 'will be introduced at the JCT and ECT in near future'.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Business Wire — Navis N4 go-live at Colombo Port (vendor) businesswire.com · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-d18b21f112f29de8
Publisher
Name not classified · businesswire.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2021-07-01
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-07
Dossier created
2026-08-22
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Vendor confirmation of the go-live; ~2.5M TEU annual throughput at the SLPA facility.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this passport
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

Compare this project

🇬🇲 Gambia National Single Window E-Tracking System · Banjul Same genre of trade digitisation — Banjul tracks cargo nationwide, Colombo tracks containers with RFID gates and DGPS at two terminals. 🇨🇳 Tianjin Zero-Carbon Smart Terminal · Tianjin Automation without the green build-out: Tianjin's terminal runs its own wind/solar microgrid; Colombo just upgrades EDI and RFID gates. 🇰🇷 Busan New Port West Container Terminal Phase 2-5 · Busan Opposite rung of port automation: Busan runs automated cranes and AGVs; Colombo's SLPA berths run planning software only.

Explore the wider context

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📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Colombo Port Navis N4 Terminal Operating System” — Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/colombo-port-logistics/ (last verified 2026-08-07). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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