In August 1996, the LTTE attacked the Philippine-registered MV Princess Wave which was loading similiar cargo for a Japanese consignee. Two or three ships sail every month taking on average about 14,000 tonnes of food and other cargo like food, cement, timber and vehicles for both the government as well as the private sector. The voyage from Colombo Port to Jaffna takes about two days but the ships take at least 20 days for the round trip because of delays in loading and unloading cargo at both ends. It takes days for ships taking cargo to the north to load at Colombo Port because of tight security checks. Discharging cargo is also laborious and time consuming because there is no proper harbour at Point Pedro.
Ships anchor offshore and disharge cargo into barges to be taken ashore.
The harbour at Kankesanturai is not used by merchant ships because of security restrictions. Coastal trading is allowed only for ships registered in Sri Lanka because of the need for close control of shipping in the island's waters. Foreign ships wanting to sail in the island's waters need to fly the Sri Lankan flag or be in the Parallel Registry. Only the Commissioner-General of Essential Services is exempted and can charter or operate foreign vessels. Many ships therefore prefer to register with Sri Lanka's Parallel Registry.