Category: Shipping and Transport

Nov 12, 2009 (LBO) – Delays at Colombo port caused by disruptive labour union action might prompt international shipping lines to shift their hard-won custom to competing ports, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has warned. The SLPA had promised “efficient and fast port services” and “higher productivity” to win the custom of the shipping […]

Nov 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shipyard Colombo Dockyard said it has laid the keel for construction of the fourth Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessel for Greatship India.The vessel is meant to support the offshore oil and gas industry, the yard said in a statement. The occasion was attended by the owner’s representatives, officials from […]

Nov 05, 2009 (LBO) – Colombo port has re-opened its northern entrance channel which had been closed for years owing to the threat of attacks by Tamil Tiger separatists who were defeated by government forces in May. But it had been completely closed since the airport attack. The Tamil separatists’ naval wing, the Sea Tigers, […]

SYDNEY, November 4, 2009 (AFP) – Australia called off an air and sea search for survivors on Wednesday after a boat carrying unidentified Sri Lankans sank in remote seas far off its northwest, killing 12.Home Minister Brendan O’Connor said there was no hope of finding anyone else alive after the boat carrying 39 went down […]

Nov 03, 2009 (LBO) – Colombo Dockyard, a Sri Lankan shipbuilder, said it was eying more work for its heavy engineering division in the island as well as the south Asian region. The company said in a statement its subsidiary, Dockyard General Engineering Services (DGES), had changed its logo as it seeks to emerge as […]

Oct 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT), a private operator in the port of Colombo says September volumes have increased 3.8 percent from a year earlier to 161,450 containers. This is the second highest monthly throughput ever recorded by SAGT, behind August 2009 where it hit a record of 163,024 […]

Oct 23, 2009 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank said it has given financial assistance amounting to 70 million dollars to Sri Lanka for rebuilding roads in two provinces affected by war.The total investment cost of the project in the island’s Eastern and North Central Provinces is 78 million dollars of which eight million will […]

Oct 20, 2009 (LBO) – Vehicle imports to Sri Lanka fell 26.4 percent in July from a year ago with motor cars down 74.7 percent, trucks and other goods transport vehicle falling 47.3 percent and three wheelers 35.3 percent, the latest official data shows.In the seven months to July total vehicles imports were down 32.3 […]

Oct 06, 2009 (LBO) – A Colombo port container terminal in which Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings group has a majority stake said volumes rose to a record high in August 2009, the fourth straight monthly rise. Colombo is south Asia’s hub port, where cargo is shipped on feeder vessels to and from smaller ports […]

Oct 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is in talks with international shipping lines on new services through Colombo port despite the global downturn in trade which has reduced cargo volumes, a senior official said.SLPA chairman Priyath Wickrama said there were signs cargo volumes were picking up as the global economy recovers […]

Sept 23, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) says foreign investors are vying to put up fertiliser and cement plants and ship yards in a new port in Hambantota on the south coast. Wickrama declined to identify the investors as talks were going on. A request for proposals (RFP) inviting investments in […]

Sept 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard said it rejected claims it faced a five billion rupee claim over unpaid taxes and customs duties on sale of vessels it built and that it was challenging a court petition by customs.The shipyard said in a stock exchange filing that it had settled all taxes, […]