Category: Shipping and Transport

Oct 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard delivered the second of a pair of passenger vessels for an Indian customer but warned profitability could dip this year owing to the effects of recession and growing competition. The island’s 30-year ethnic war ended in May 2009 leading to the removal of marine war-risk insurance […]

Oct 28, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shipbuilder Colombo Dockyard has secure contracts for two 78-metre Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessels (MPSVs) for Greatship Global Offshore Services of Singapore, a statement said. The vessels, to support offshore oil and gas fields around the clock, are scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of the 2012 financial […]

Oct 22, 2010 (LBO) – A new port being built in Sri Lanka’s southern Hambantota has drawn investment proposals from local and foreign businesses including the local Senok Combine and Micro Car for vehicle assembly, officials said. The second phase will expand and deepen the harbour, adding more berths and cranes to handle containers. Madras […]

Oct 15, 2010 (LBO) – India and Sri Lanka have agreed on and initialled a draft agreement to resume ferry services between the two neighbours that was disrupted by the island’s ethnic war, a statement said. “The two sides agreed on the text of the Memorandum of Understanding for passenger transportation by sea between the […]

Oct 14, 2010 (LBO) – The increase in cargo flows from India generated by accelerating economic growth will ensure business for a new container terminal that Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence is investing in, an official said. “India’s economic growth in 2018 is expected to surpass China’s,” Dissanayake said. “When the economy grows they will handle […]

Oct 11, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s logistics and transport bottlenecks will come under scrutiny at an international conference this week where partnerships between the public and private sectors will also be considered, officials said. The island now has an opportunity to rebuild its transport infrastructure which was neglected or destroyed during the 30-year ethnic […]

Oct 08, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Road Development Authority has commissioned the Moratuwa University to do a study on the island’s future requirements for expressways and connections with the existing road network, an official said. Road Development Authority chairman Ranjith Premasiri said the survey, being done by transport and logistics experts at the university, […]

Oct 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Diesel and Motor Engineering Company, agents for Mercedes Benz and Tata vehicles, says monthly volumes have doubled to 1,000 units from a year earlier following an economic upturn and cuts in vehicle taxes. The firm also sells Chrysler and Jeep brands from the US, Mahindra and Mahindra vehicles […]

Sept 30, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has decided to call for fresh tenders to build a section of highway around the capital Colombo as bids from Japanese contractors were too high, an official said. The Outer Circular Highway will be connected to the expressways only by four interchanges at four suburban towns – Makumbura, […]

Sept 28, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority which runs the island’s ports expects to be able to handle payments by port users online by January next year, an official said. It will eliminate the need for port users to visit the harbour to make payments, he said. Both its internal finance division […]

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 […]