Category: Shipping and Transport

Feb 25, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s vehicle registrations fell 1.5 percent to 27,827 in January 2014 from a year earlier, with used hybrid cars up and three wheelers down, a research analysis shows.Sri Lanka now taxes large hybrid vehicles at lower rates than small petrol cars. The larger cars are more fuel efficient, allowing […]

Feb 21, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is likely to opt for a 1.3 billion US dollar monorail mass transit system with Japanese finance to cut traffic congestion and boost mobility in the capital Colombo, an official said. A link is also planned from Kollupitiya to National Hospital. A second stage will involve a line […]

Feb 20, 2014 (LBO) – Japan will fund a 35 billion yen (343mn US dollar) bridge connecting Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo with an expressway network, information minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said.Sri Lanka is also planning an elevated road network to cater to rising traffic. Japan is also expected to fund a the first phase of a […]

SYDNEY, February 15, 2014 (AFP) – Australia plans to buy seven giant unmanned drones for Aus billion (US.7 billion), potentially to help patrol its borders, a report said on Saturday. The use of large unmanned aircraft patrolling the nation’s borders has been mulled for a decade but the previous Labor government would not sign off […]

SEOUL, January 20, 2014 (AFP) – South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries said Monday it had started construction on a Chinese order for the world’s largest container ships.China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) awarded the contract for the five vessels — each with a capacity of 18,400 TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) container boxes — to Hyundai […]

Jan 16, 2014 (LBO) – MV OEL Emirates, the latest vessel in Dubai-based Orient Express Lines had made its maiden call at Sri Lanka’s Colombo port.OEL has services from Colombo to Chennai, Cochin , Tuticorin, Male and Chittagong. Orient Express Lines is a member of Dubai-based Transworld Group of Companies which also has interests in […]

COLOMBO, December 17, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has recorded a sharp rise in drug busts, suggesting the island is becoming a transhipment hub for heroin in Asia, a government minister said Tuesday. In August, Sri Lanka customs found 260 kilos (572 pounds) of pure heroin in a container at the Colombo port. The cargo […]

COLOMBO, December 17, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka will revive its defunct state-run shipping company by introducing two new cargo vessels bought from China, the government said Tuesday. The Ceylon Shipping Corporation will buy two 64,000-tonne bulk carriers that will also be used to train Sri Lankan crew, Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters. He […]

Dec 11, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s motor vehicle registrations were flat in November 2013 at 27,424 units, barely changed from 27,082 a year earlier but there were steep increases in hybrids, large cars and sport utility vehicles, an analysis by a research house shows.Motor car registrations at 2,226 in November were sharply up from […]

Dec 09, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hemas group said it had commissioned an inland container terminal that can store and service 3,000 twenty foot containers.The firm is planning to provide warehousing services in the future. “With the national intent to make Sri Lanka as a transportation hub, this is a one of many steps […]

Nov 28, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard, a ship repair and building firm, found its competitiveness hurt by import restrictions on specialist lubricants.Sri Lanka requires a ‘no objection’ letter from the government to import lubricants as it is a licensed business on which the state has placed import restrictions. A Dockyard official told […]

Nov 25, 2013 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka Ports Authority was up sharply in the first nine months of the year, helped by a weaker Japanese Yen and higher container volumes, a finance ministry report said. SLPA has recorded revenues of 25.9 billion rupees for the nine months to September 2013, Revenues were up […]