Category: Shipping and Transport

May 27, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s will give state assistance to convert petrol driven three-wheeler taxis to liquefied petroleum gas which can slash running costs by 40 percent and clear up pollution, officials said. Minister Alahapperuma says the government is looking at a soft loan scheme to cover at least half of the cost. […]

May 25, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s bus fares will go up by an average 27.2 percent from Monday following a 37 percent rise in diesel prices on Saturday, an official said. The island has a formula under a national pricing policy agreed with bus operators and the government. The fares were finalized following discussions […]

May 15, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has approved the award of a 46 million euro contract for a Denmark based firm to build a port in the eastern coast of the island, a senior minister said. The cabinet of ministers had given the go ahead for MT Hojgaard to build a port in the […]

May 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard, a unit of Japan’s Onomichi and the country’s sole listed shipbuilder, has won two new orders from Greatship (India), for bigger and more expensive vessels, an official said. Greatship is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Great Eastern Shipping Company. The firm had previously ordered four […]

May 08, 2008 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank has agreed to change conditions on a loan to the Sri Lankan government to build a new deep-water harbour next to Colombo port, dredging on which is already underway, ADB and government officials said. These include Maersk, the world’s biggest shipping line, which has a stake […]

May 05, 2008 (LBO) – Construction work on a new port in Oluvil on Sri Lanka’s east coast is to start on Tuesday as part of government efforts to revive the region’s economy, the Port Ministry said in a statement Monday. The main objective of the project is to develop a harbour with appropriate shore […]

May 02, 2008 (LBO) – Colombo Dockyard, Sri Lanka’s sole listed ship builder, said it plans to invest 473 million rupees this year to upgrade yard infrastructure to meet growing demand for ship building and repair work. The yard, a subsidiary of Japan’s Onomichi Dockyard Co., which provides management. and technical expertise, anticipates it will […]

May 02, 2008 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Friday it has reached agreement with the Sri Lankan government on a 300 million dollar loan to go ahead with a long-delayed project to expand Colombo port. Although the new south port project was approved by ADB early last year, changes in government bidding […]

May 02, 2008 (LBO) – The highway from the Sri Lankan capital Colombo to hill country town of Kandy will be developed into a toll expressway at a cost of 30 billion by a Malaysian contractor, a senior government official said Friday.“We have an offer from Malaysia, a consultancy firm, and they have prepared their […]

April 21, 2008 9LBO) A European Union directive to abolish shipping line ‘conferences’ or cartels by October should lead to more competition and enable shippers to get a better deal, Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council officials said. SLSC president Ananda Wijayasuriya said lines will in future not be able to fix prices but negotiate contracts of […]

April 17, 2008 9LBO) Sri Lankan shipping authorities have detained a cargo ship in Colombo port for non-compliance with regulations and submission of false documentation, officials said. “The vessel has been detained after our inspectors found certain deficiencies,” said a port official. The authorities had found faulty machinery on board the vessel and that some […]

March 21, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s shipping community is getting increasingly concerned over delays in upgrading Colombo port equipment, building a new birth and the opening of another entrance for navigation. Further delays could endanger Colombo’s status as south Asia’s transshipment hub especially with India expanding its own ports and building new ones to […]