Category: Shipping and Transport

Nov 17, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s first high-speed expressway that is to be opened this month lacks adequate roadside space to park vehicles during emergency stops, journalists taken on a tour were able to observe. The southern expressway also has lights only on bridges and at intersections with ramps connecting the highway with other […]

Nov 14, 2011 (LBO) – Agreements to start building the first container terminal by Aitken Spence and China Merchants Holding (International) in a new deep water port being built next to Sri Lanka’s Colombo port were signed last week. Construction work of the South Container Terminal will start on December 01, 2011 and first 600 […]

Nov 14, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will permit public transport to operate on the island’s first expressway after buses with safety features are imported, deputy highways minister Nirmala Kothelawala said. “We will allow buses to travel on the road after four or five months,” minister Kothelawala told reporters. “But buses with belts in all […]

Nov 14, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s first 96 kilometre expressway from the capital Colombo to Galle in the south of the island to be opened in November 27, cost 77 billion rupees to build, officials said. The road is part of a 126-kilometer expressway running to Matara at the Southern tip of the island […]

Nov 14, 2011 (LBO) – Co-operation among countries with interests in the Indian Ocean is essential to effectively fight Somali piracy against merchant ships which could threaten trade if unchecked, a Sri Lanka defence official said. “It is our belief that the lasting solution to threats of this nature cannot be undertaken by individual nations […]

Nov 07, 2011 (LBO) – The toll for cars using Sri Lanka’s first expressway, scheduled to be opened later this month, has been set at 400 rupees for the full distance and a minimum of 100 rupees, an official said. The southern expressway, linking Colombo with the town of Galle on the south coast, is […]

Nov 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan port authorities have agreed to long-standing demands of truckers to open more entrance gates, reduce security checks and provide toilets after a sudden strike disrupted cargo flows through Colombo port. Port officials said some of the restrictions such as checks on cargo and closure of entrance gates had […]

Nov 04, 2011 (LBO) – Construction of transport infrastructure like ports and airports positions Sri Lanka to be a regional trade hub just like Dubai and Singapore have done for trade between East and West, a logistics expert has said. “It is a prerequisite to be able to berth these ‘mega ships’. If not Sri […]

Nov 01, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan transport firms have formed a partnership with the local branch of a global professional body that will lobby the government on policy changes needed to improve the island’s logistics business. The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Sri Lanka has teamed up with 15 corporate entities from […]

Oct 31, 2011 (LBO) – A post-war economic boom and lower import taxes helped sharply increase September 2011 quarter profits at two Sri Lankan vehicle importers which are agents for top German, Japanese and Indian brands. Diesel & Motor Engineering Company (DIMO), agents for Mercedes Benz and Tata, said September quarter net profit rose 175 […]

Oct 28, 2011 (LBO) – Eight firms, including from Malaysia and Korea have expressed interest in building a highway to Sri Lanka’s central hill city of Kandy, deputy highways minister Nirmala Kothelawala said. According to the preliminary data on Sri Lanka’s Road Development Authority website, the Kandy Colombo Expressway will be a 98 kilometre road […]

Oct 26, 2011 (LBO) – New vehicles registered in Sri Lanka rose 31 percent to 45,279 in August 2011 from a year earlier, though lower than a peak of 48,157 seen in June, official data showed. Car imports rose 62 percent to 5,055 in August, three wheeler vehicles widely used as taxis rose 30.4 percent […]