Category: Shipping and Transport

ATHENS, November 22, 2008 (AFP) – A Greek-owned chemical tanker freed by Somali pirates was heading for Saudi Arabia Saturday, Greece’s merchant shipping ministry said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘act (space) lbo’ and send to 678 The pirates had released the Liberian-flagged MV Genius on Friday after holding […]

HONG KONG, November 20, 2008 (AFP) – A Hong Kong-flagged ship captained by a Sri Lankan that was hijacked two months ago off the coast of Somalia is returning home after its owner paid a ransom to a group of pirates, AFP was told Thursday. A spokeswoman for Sinotrans Shipping said its vessel Great Creation […]

Nov 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan customs authorities are holding a ship that carried 72,000 tonnes of wheat to a mill owned by Prima of Singapore in the eastern port of Trincomalee, a media report said. The report said Prima Ceylon Ltd general manager Jay Ong had declined to comment. The Sunday Times newspaper […]

Nov 11, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), which suffered a loss last year, plans to maintain tight control of finances and minimise waste in a campaign to cut costs, its new chairman Priyath Wickrema said. The SLPA would be conducting energy and fuel audits and each of its divisions would have […]

Nov 03, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hemas group has bought a stake in ship owner and operator Mercantile Shipping Company as part of a strategic thrust into the shipping business. Hemas Holdings said in a stock exchange filing that it invested in a 17 percent stake in Mercantile Shipping Co., which represents 426,223 ordinary […]

Oct 27, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hayleys group has tied up with UK based Edgo Merap to enter the oil and gas industry support services industry, the company said, with Sri Lanka having issued its first exploration license earlier in the year. It provides drilling services, hydro-geological studies and land development. The group also […]

MANILA, October 26, 2008 (AFP) – Amid dire predictions that trade will slow next year due to the global financial crisis, hundreds of Filipino seamen still gather in downtown Manila everyday to scan the positions vacant notices. Wilfredo Narte, a 66-year-old Filipino sailor, has seen it all before as he walks past a group of […]

Oct 22, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers have staged a suicide attack on merchant ships carrying supplies to the northern Jaffna peninsular early Wednesday, the defence ministry said. The merchant ships Ruhuna and Nimalawa, were attacked off the Kankasanthurai harbhour, defence authorities said. Several merchant ships, some operated by Sri Lankan firms, have […]

Oct 20, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is to invite investments from the private sector early next year to set up business in a new port being built in the southern region.Wickrema said the SLPA will invite proposals for businesses in the port such as warehousing, and cement and fertiliser manufacture. […]

Oct 16, 2008 (LBO) – Freight costs could fall with an expected slowdown in the US economy and the end this weekend of shipping liner cartels which fix rates, Sri Lankan shippers said.Sri Lankan shippers have long enjoyed the advantage of having main line vessels calling at Colombo to pick up transshipment cargo, which usually […]

Oct 15, 2008 (LBO) – The Maersk group, which runs the world’s biggest shipping line, may be interested in investing in a new container terminal in the planned new deep-draft port next to Colombo, a company official said.“The last time APMT did not participate because it was involved in too many projects and its resources […]

Oct 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lana’s government plans to deregulate railway freight rates and invite private sector participation to increase movement of goods by rail, according to a new transport policy unveiled recently.“Railway freight tariffs will be de-regulated and the Sri Lanka Railways will be permitted to determine tariffs competitively to attract freight transport […]