Category: Shipping and Transport

DUBAI, July 28, 2011 (AFP) – A petrol tanker belonging to the United Arab Emirates hijacked by Somali pirates on July 16 has been released, state news agency WAM reported Thursday. Last month, the UN Security Council warned that Somali pirates were attacking growing numbers of ships in the Indian Ocean and that the attacks […]

July 27, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s new car registrations rose 10 fold to 29,883 in the first half of 2011, amid 63 percent overall rise in vehicle registrations following a tax cut that increased citizen’s access to vehicles, official data shows. During the six months to June, Sri Lankans have registered 248,572 new vehicles […]

July 27, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s first expressway is likely to charge a toll of 300 rupees for the full journey from the capital Colombo to the southern town of Galle, deputy highways minister Nirmala Kothelwawala said. The highway can cut down the journey to Galle from Colombo from the current three hours to […]

July 22, 2011 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka unit of Indian Oil Corporation has said strong sales of bunker fuel to ships in the last three months of the last financial year helped offset losses in the previous three quarters. Lanka Indian Oil Corp chairman G C Daga said that during the financial year ended […]

July 21, 2011 (LBO) – India is to provide Sri Lanka with grants and soft loans to rebuild Kankesanturai port in the northern Jaffna peninsula that was damaged during the ethnic war, under a deal signed Thursday. India has already committed 20 million US dollars for the work which involves a hydrographic survey, wreck removal […]

July 20, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has revived cargo transport into Colombo port by rail after a lapse of four decades with a shipment of export containers by SG Logistics, part of the newly listed Expolanka Holdings group. Niroza Gazzali, chief executive of SG Logistics, said they were working closely with Sri Lanka Railway […]

July 18, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s port expansion projects in the capital Colombo and Hambantota in the south, can benefit from expanding regional trade as India and China grows, a media report said. ‘South-South’ trade could account for 40 percent of world trade in 2030 from 18 percent now, according to a Standard Chartered […]

July 17, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Shipping Corporation’s losses rose 64 percent to 57.1 million rupees in the 2009/201 financial year, while revenues continued to fall, a finance ministry report said. Revenues had fallen 45 percent to 485 million rupees. The report said the firm lacked capital to expand operations and was […]

July 17, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s first expressway which is due to open later this month will have curbs on advertising to prevent drivers from being distracted, Road Development Authority chief R W Pemasiri said. “No construction will be permitted within 500 metres of expressway, without permission from the RDA,” Pemasiri said. “No advertising […]

July 15, 2011 (LBO) – Colombo Dockyard has commissioned a ‘bollard pull’ test facility in Sri Lanka’s eastern port of Trincomalee for use by its own vessels and others such as in planned oil exploration work. “The test facility is built mainly to check and confirm the pulling capacity of ships including tugs and Anchor […]

July 15, 2011 (LBO) – India’s state-run Indian Railway Construction International Ltd (lRCON) has been given a 149. 3 million US dollar contract to build a remaining part of a railway track to Sri Lanka’s north, the government’s information office said. The entire track from Vavuniya to Jaffna was destroyed during a civil war which […]

July 15, 2011 (LBO) – With pirate attacks on the increase, Sri Lankan shippers have been advised to insure cargo against the risk of piracy off Somalia to minimize losses and delays if a vessel with their shipments is hijacked. Ships hijacked by Somali pirates take a long time to get released, said P Mukundan, […]