Category: Shipping and Transport

Aug 13, 2008 (LBO) – The chairman of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Saliya Wickramasuriya has been asked to resign, Sri Lanka’s ports and aviation minister Chamal Rajapaksa said. Shipping lines complain of delays in navigation because of the closure of the port’s northern entrance owing to security concerns. They also complain of delays […]

August 12, 2008 (LBO) – The United States has finished re-building the third fishery harbour in southern Sri Lanka which was hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami, the US embassy in Colombo said.USAID has also helped renovate the Hikkaduwa and Mirissa fishery harbours as part of a 5 million US dollar project, helping a total […]

Aug 12, 2008 (LBO) – The rapid growth of the world’s shipping fleet is opening up employment opportunities for Sri Lankan seafarers but training is constrained by a shortage of berths for cadets to get seagoing experience, officials said.The worldwide shortage of officer grade seafarers is growing and with more ships being built at a […]

Aug 12, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shippers have rejected the report of a mediation committee that probed a dispute over cargo handling charges in Colombo port, saying the matter remains unresolved. The council, an apex body representing the island’s exporters and importers, has waged a long campaign against the terminal handling charge imposed by […]

Aug 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is negotiating additional funds to re-start work on a section of a highway to the island’s south that is now suspended, but the first part is on track for completion by 2010, a top official said.The head of the island’s road development authority R W Pemasiri says negotiations […]

Aug 05, 2008 (LBO) – The government lacks the funds to build part of an expressway in southern Sri Lanka that is scheduled to be completed by 2010, a senior government official said.The southern expressway is meant to link the capital Colombo with the town of Matara in the deep south of the island which […]

Aug 04, 2008 (LBO) – Heavy swells caused by monsoon weather are creating delays at Colombo port, officials at shipping lines calling at the Sri Lankan harbour said. The bad weather sometimes forces vessels to delay entering the port as well as leave after discharging and loading cargo, they said. “At the moment productivity has […]

Aug 01, 2008 (2008) – The Sri Lankan government plans to award a Chinese firm the contract to build a long-delayed expressway linking the capital Colombo with the island’s sole international airport north of the city. Government officials said Cabinet approval is to be sought this month to grant permission to the Chinese firm to […]

July 29, 2008 (LBO) – An efficient public transport system will help Sri Lanka reduce its fuel bill and curb environmental pollution, a top official from the National Transport Commission (NTC) said. Nearly 70 percent of the total fuel consumption per year is by private passenger vehicles which carry less than 30 percent of the […]

July 25, 2008 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings said the future of the bunkering business of Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings was uncertain after a court ordered the return of land which held a tank farm, but said its ‘AAA(lka)’ rating was unchanged.Fitch Ratings said the firm may be able to either re-negotiate access to the […]

July 23, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has inked a deal with India’s Export-Import Bank of India to borrow 100 million US dollars to upgrade a coastal rail track and buy rolling stock, the island’s finance ministry said. A credit agreement for 100 million US dollars was signed between finance ministry secretary P B Jayasundera […]

July 16, 2008 (LBO) – Colombo port plans to order more quay-side gantry cranes, mobile cranes and tractors to boost productivity and cope with increasing cargo flows, a senior official said.Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) chairman Saliya Wickramasuriya said the new equipment acquisition was part of the ports efforts to improve efficiency and the port’s […]