Category: Shipping and Transport

Sept 25, 2010 (LBO) – A rail-based metro system may be an option in part of Sri Lanka’s capital city Colombo when passenger flows rise to levels that make it financially viable, an official said. There must be high density development in the city centre that will justify a rail-based metro system and it must […]

Sept 21, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence has to raise 4. 5 billion rupees for its stake in a new port terminal, which if funded by debt might invite a downgrade of its ‘AA(lka)’ rating, Fitch Ratings said. Fitch Ratings Lanka is reviewing Aitken Spence’s (ASP) senior unsecured notes’ ‘AA(lka)’ National Long-term rating […]

Sept 17, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan seafarers will get an opportunity to serve on board Iranian vessels following an agreement signed between the two countries during the visit to the island of Iran’s trade minister, officials said. Iranian Trade Minister Mehedi Gassanfari was in Sri Lanka to attend the Joint Trade and Economic Cooperation […]

Sept 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has awarded a contract to build and operate a new deep-water container terminal in Colombo port to a consortium consisting of China Merchant Holdings International and Aitken Spence, a statement said. The new terminal will have a quay wall length of 1. 2 kilometres with a minimum alongside […]

Sept 13, 2010 (LBO) – Service providers in the trade hubs of Dubai and Singapore have shown interest in a new port in southern Sri Lanka where a request for proposals from businesses has been issued, an official said. “To attract volumes to Sri Lanka we must have capacity; otherwise we might not attract regional […]

Sept 07, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Customs department has doubled the number of gates at Colombo port to four to ease congestion and speed up the flow of cargo, a Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) official said. Truckers have had to wait for lengthy periods to move in and out of the port because […]

Sept 06, 2010 (LBO) – Container volumes at South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT), an associate of Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells Holdings, fell in August, the first monthly fall against a year ago since October 2009. SAGT’s cargo volumes were down 2. 3 percent to 159,334 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units or containers) in August 2010 […]

Sept 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Colombo port is nearing its maximum capacity ahead of forecasts owing to a rapid growth in cargo volumes, the head of the state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority said. Container volumes through Colombo are growing at almost 24 percent now compared with 2009, Wickrama said. The number of containers […]

Sept 03, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is building a new yard for storing containers next to its main transhipment facility in Colombo port to ease congestion caused by increasing cargo flows, an official said. SLPA chairman Priyath Wickrama said the yard, next to the Jaya Container Terminal, will also have […]

Sept 02, 2010 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan conglomerate, part of the consortium selected to build a new container terminal in Colombo port, warned against surcharges by shipping lines and also creating excess capacity ahead of demand. “I recommend we should not try to create additional capacity – then there can be a price war,” […]

Aug 31, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard has delivered the second of a series of four Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessels (MPSV) for Singapore’s Greatship Global Offshore Services, a statement said. Colombo Dockyard has said it will deliver a total six vessels this year and will focus more on offshore work with the search […]

Aug 31, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority plans to shed staff with a voluntary retirement scheme and change worker attitudes to ensure a better service, its chairman Priyath Wickrama said. “Within five years we will convert this to a better port, with better attitudes. ” “We plan to release 4,000 employees by […]