Category: Shipping and Transport

Dec 03, 2010 (LBO) – An emerging requirement for fast passenger ferries to link Indian island territories with the mainland could be an opportunity for Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard, a visiting Indian official said. Jitendra Kumar Dadoo, the Administrator of the Union Territories of Lakshadweep, India, said faster passenger craft were needed to transport people […]

KUALA LUMPUR, December 2, 2010 (AFP) – Malaysia says it is taking steps to secure the release of a Malaysian-flagged cargo ship and its 23 crew seized by Somali pirates last week in the Indian Ocean. The MV Albedo container vessel was en route from the United Arab Emirates to Kenya when it was hijacked […]

Nov 29, 2010 (LBO) – Indian investors will be encouraged to invest in southern Sri Lanka where China has built a new port, according to remarks by India’s foreign minister, as both countries vie for influence on the island. Visiting Indian Minister of External Affairs S M Krishna said India’s decision to set up a […]

Nov 26, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and India has inked a deal for a 416 million US dollar credit from India’s export import bank to rebuild railways in the island’s war-torn north, a government statement said. The president’s office said the deal was signed between Nadeem Panketan, managing director of the Indian export import […]

TOKYO, November 21, 2010 (AFP) – A small, unidentified ship opened fire on a container vessel run by a Japanese logistics firm, in an apparent piracy attack in the Indian Ocean, a report said late Saturday. None of container ship’s 24 crew members, all non-Japanese, was injured in the incident Saturday, Kyodo News reported, quoting […]

Nov 18, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s new Chinese built port in the Southern city of Hambantota was formally commissioned by President Mahinda Rajapaksa Thursday with the symbolic entry of a converted troopship. Rajapksa said in the second century, under then King Gajaba, there had been a port in the area called Godpabbatha which had […]

Nov 17, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s importance as a shipping hub in South Asia has increased after the end of a long drawn out war, an international logistic group that has offices in the Middle East, Asia and Pacific said. “Sri Lanka with its strategic location provides a gateway to the Maldives where we […]

Nov 16, 2010 (LBO) – A luxury passenger vessel, MV Le Diamant, operated by the CMA CGM shipping line, has begun calls at Sri Lankan ports following the end of the island’s 30-year ethnic war. Its second voyage is planned for May 2011. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority said the ship called at the eastern […]

Nov 10, 2010 (LBO) – South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT), an associate of Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells Holdings, said volumes rose 17 percent in October to 173,528 containers from a year ago. SAGT is 42.2 percent owned by JKH and has been contributing a big chunk of the conglomerate’s profits in recent years, along […]

Nov 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom is on track to get a deal to install a fibre optic cable for a toll collection system on an expressway linking the island’s south that is now under construction. These will be in the towns of Konawa, Kahatuduwa, Gelanigama, Dodangoda, Welipenna, Kurundugahahetekma, Nayapamula, Pinnaduwa, Deegoda, Kokmaduwa […]

November 3, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka plans to spend a billion dollars in foreign aid to rebuild roads as the island emerges from nearly four decades of ethnic fighting, a top official said Wednesday. Sri Lanka’s Highways Ministry Secretary Wasantha Karannagoda said they had secured funding to rebuild and repair nearly 4,000 kilometres (2,500 […]

Nov 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to enter into a credit agreement with India’s Export – Import Bank for an Indian government soft loan of 416 million US dollars to rebuild railways destroyed by war, a spokesman said. Media minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said the funds will be used to rebuild three sections of […]