Category: Shipping and Transport

June 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s logistics industry has warned that lengthy delays in automating cargo clearing procedures were eroding the island’s competitiveness as it seeks to position itself as a cargo hub. “It now takes too much time and money to get things done. We must look at ways and means of improving […]

June 24, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s bus fares have been raised by 7.6 percent from July 01, following discussion between authorities and bus owners, though a key bus-owner union wanted a higher increase, reports said. The minimum fare for buses would go up to seven rupees from the current six. Minister C B Ratnayake […]

June 24, 2011 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has secured a 700 million US dollar investment to build a ‘port city’ on land reclaimed on the capital’s seafront with the construction of a new harbour. SLPA chairman Priyath Wickrama said material dredged to build the new port next to the existing Colombo […]

June 23, 2011 (LBO) – Lengthy delays in entering Colombo port are making Sri Lankan truckers providing services to move cargo containers unprofitable, an official said. “The question to us is why the present infrastructure is not being used. It is a serious issue. If well-managed, we will be able to cut down cost by […]

June 23, 2011 (LBO) – State-run Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation will develop and run rest areas on a tolled expressway running from the capital Colombo to Galle in the south of the island, a government minister said. The completed highway will run to Matara at the southern tip of the island. Minister Anura Yapa said […]

MUMBAI, June 17, 2011 (AFP) – Efforts to refloat a stranded cargo ship that ran aground off one of Mumbai’s most popular beaches last weekend failed on Friday, officials said. The MV Wisdom has been stranded at Juhu beach since last Saturday after it slipped its moorings to a tug that was towing it to […]

CAIRO, June 17, 2011 (AFP) – An Egyptian boat seized with its 22-member crew by pirates off the coast of Somalia in August 2010 has been freed, an Egyptian foreign ministry official said on Friday. Abdel Hakam did not elaborate or give details on the health of the crew — 11 Egyptians, six Indians, four […]

June 17, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government is to allow private bus operators to raise fares, private transport services minister C B Ratnayake said. Government authorities were making preparations for the fare hike, he told a forum on transport, without saying by how much fares would rise. “We are preparing a revision of bus […]

June 17, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government has invited private bus operators to start services on the island’s first expressway set to open by end-July with a terminal to connect other routes planned close to the capital. Private transport services minister C B Ratnayake said the government expects to have 10 air-conditioned luxury buses […]

June 17, 2011 (LBO) – Japan’s ClassNK, the world’s largest ship classification society in gross tonnage terms, has opened an office in Sri Lanka as shipping traffic grows at Colombo port. The 111-year-old ClassNK has some 7,347 ships over 180 million gross tonnes or about 20 percent of the world’s commercial fleet on its registry […]

June 17, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government plans to arrange low-cost leases for private operators to help them replace aging fleets of buses with new ones, private transport services minister C B Ratnayake said. A large number of buses plying on the island’s roads were 15-20 years old and should be removed, he told […]

June 16, 2011 (LBO) – Container shipping line CMA CGM has announced a freight rate increase from July 1 including on cargo loaded from Sri Lanka, joining other lines that are trying to raise rates. CMA CGM, the Marseilles-based line that is the world’s third largest container shipping line, said it planned to hikes rates […]