Category: Shipping and Transport

Mar 13, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard anticipates lower ship building and repair orders given the shipping industry downturn but is investing in equipment to improve efficiency and eyeing offshore oil industry work. “Geographically, Colombo Dockyard couldn’t be positioned in a better place than in Sri Lanka. It truly is an imperative in […]

Mar 12, 2012 (LBO) – China has given a 278. 2 million US dollar loan to finance the first part of a new railway track running from the Southern town of Matara to Kataragama, the finance ministry said. A statement on the finance ministry website said the loan has been approved by the Exim Bank […]

Mar 08, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s automobile sales are expected to dip in 2012 with pent up demand being met and rapidly rising interest rates, Tilak de Zoysa, deputy chairman of Associated Motorways, the island’s largest auto dealer said. Sri Lanka’s rupee also dipped from 110 to around 120 rupees in the second week […]

Feb 29, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Access Engineering bought 60 percent of vehicle importer Sathosa Motors from Japan’s Itochu Corp. for 846 million rupees paying 235 rupees a share, its chairman Sumal Perera said. “We believe there will be steady growth in the commercial vehicle and construction machinery business in the coming years. ” […]

Feb 23, 2012 (LBO) – Dialog Axiata has provided an on-line system for Sri Lanka’s first expressway enabling real time ticket transactions at all entry and exit points and traffic and revenue monitoring. Its subsidiary, Dialog Enterprise partnered with Access Telecommunications Services which provided the required application platform and all Point of Sales machines for […]

Feb 20, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Mercantile Shipping Company said it made a net loss of 12 million rupees in the December 2011 quarter compared with a profit of 4. 4 million a year ago. Mercantile Shipping Company, through a subsidiary, acquired two new ships in recent years and the accounts showed it provided […]

Feb 17, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plans to become a logistics hub stand to gain from the shift in Asian manufacturing from China to countries like Vietnam that could yield more cargo for ports like Colombo, a logistics expert said. “Logistics is like an orchestra in which the container terminal operator plays a key […]

Feb 14, 2012 (LBO) – December 2011 quarter net profit at Sri Lankan auto importer and distributor Diesel and Motor Engineering Company (Dimo) fell 27 percent to 713 million rupees from a year ago as sales slowed. A stock exchange filing said Dimo’s sales fell 12 percent to 10. 6 billion rupees in the quarter […]

Feb 13, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s bus fares will be raised by 20 percent and striking buses will return to the streets from Tuesday, Gemunu Wijeratne, head of the Sri Lanka Private Bus Operators’ Association said. The new fares will be in effect for at least a year unless fuel prices are raised by […]

Feb 09, 2012 (LBO) – Shipping lines are coming together and concentrating their power to survive a downturn in trade that is causing losses but a recent freight rate hike might not last, Sri Lankan shippers have been told. In 2012, 253 vessels with a total capacity of 1. 4 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent container […]

Feb 07, 2012 (LBO) – Global ship agency and offshore marine service provider GAC has set up a supply base in Galle to support ship-to-ship (STS) services, a statement said. The new service complements existing services such as ship agency, bunker supplies and the ship supply service. GAC Sri Lanka uses a fleet of ten […]

Feb 02, 2012 (LBO) – A large number of vehicles breaking down on Sri Lanka’s first expressway may require motorists to get roadworthiness certificates to use the road, as traffic picked up steadily, an official said. From about 4,000 vehicles a day in December, usage has now increased to 7,200 by end January. Sri Lanka’s […]