Category: Shipping and Transport

May 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lankan boat builders say taxes on imported parts are pushing up production costs while they are losing domestic market share to foreign vessels that are allowed duty free. A country with cheaper boats could become bigger player in the vast Indian Ocean. Boat manufacturers however say taxes on imported […]

May 09, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to hold its third international boat show later this month, looking to increase exports and also create a boating culture in the island and attract affluent local buyers. “The two previous two boat shows held in 2008 and 2010 created new business ventures and led to increased […]

May 03, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning to firm up private finance for a 1. 5 billion US dollar expressway within two months, as the country seeks to connect the north and east to the capital Colombo, Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera said. “Inquiries are very much active on the now recognized Northern […]

May 01, 2012 (LBO) – China Merchants Holdings International which is building a deep-water container terminal in Colombo port is interested in investing in other Sri Lankan ports as well, an official said. Sri Lanka’s advantages make it a strong contender to be developed as a modern port with the right investment and support of […]

May 30, 2012 (LBO) – A joint coastguard exercise on anti-piracy, search and rescue and pollution control involving ships from India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives had been held in seas of the Indian Ocean archipelago. The High Commission (embassy) of India in Colombo said in a statement that six ships and one aircraft had […]

Apr 27, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s ports will be positioned as logistics hubs to help attract foreign investors for export-oriented industries to generate the cargo volumes needed to continue to lure big shipping lines, an official said. Sri Lanka Ports Authority chairman Priyath Wickrama said ports will provide warehousing and other services to offer […]

Apr 26, 2012 (LBO) – GAC International Moving, a division of a Dubai-based logistics group said it has opened a personalized packing and moving business in Sri Lanka, shortly after starting a similar service in India. “The demand for moving services by relocating executives is geared for growth, and the launch of GAC’s International Moving […]

Apr 24, 2012 (LBO) – An European Union warship has rescued six Sri Lankan fishermen from Somali pirates off the coast of Tanzania, who would be flown home, the EU delegation in Colombo said. A Spanish warship Infanta Elena, which is part of an EU Naval force had boarded the fishing vessel which had been […]

April 23, 2012 (LBO0 – The state-owned authority which runs Sri Lanka’s ports increased operating profits last year as its spending fell and ship traffic and cargo volumes grew despite the global economic slowdown. The total cargo handled by the SLPA increased by 6.2 percent to 65.1 million metric tons in 2011 from the year […]

Apr 20, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shipbuilder Colombo Dockyard has laid the keel for the first of a pair of passenger vessels for the government of India to be deployed to connect its Lakshadweep islands with the mainland. The vessel will have a crew of 69. Colombo Dockyard earlier built two passenger vessels for […]

April 18, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shippers have had to pay higher freight rates after loss-making shipping lines succeeded in pushing through rate hikes but say rates might fall after the end of a cargo rush. “They have increased rates in March and April,” Gehan Kuruppu, president, Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council told LBO. Rates […]

April 10, 2012 (LBO) – Losses at Sri Lanka’s state-run railway rose in 2011 despite the acquisition of more rolling stock and increased carriage of passengers and goods, the central bank said. At present, SLR’s contribution to passenger and freight transportation remains as low as five percent and one percent, the central bank said. “In […]