Category: Shipping and Transport

July 20, 2009 (LBO) – Better transport infrastructure and services linking northern Sri Lanka with the south would help to bridge the ethnic divide after the end of the war, transport experts said.Had such links existed before the conflict began 30 years ago, they might have helped prevent the war by Tamil Tigers for a […]

July 20, 2009 (LBO) – A Colombo port container terminal in which Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings has a big stake said its volumes hit a record monthly high in June 2009, although it was mostly low-margin transhipment traffic. “JKH management stated that it did not expect the loss of business from APL to significantly […]

July 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s private sector has been told a host of investment opportunities have emerged in rebuilding transport infrastucture in the north and east, much of which was destroyed or neglected owing to war.Transport specialist Rohan Abeywickrema said there were opportunities to create facilities to link farmers and factories in the […]

July 17, 2009 (LBO) – A proposal to build a bridge linking Sri Lanka and Indian across the Palk Straits is to be discussed at a meeting of south Asian transport ministers in Colombo, a senior official said.Amal Kumarage, chairman of the island’s National Transport Commission, said the bridge will help Sri Lanka regain its […]

July 16, 2009 (LBO) – Private bus operators in Sri Lanka are clamouring for permits to ply the northern Jaffna route with the end of a drawn out civil conflict, Amal Kumarage, chairman of the island’s National Transport Commission said. Government forces defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels in May after a lengthy military campaign and […]

July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to host a meeting of Asian shippers in Colombo, a conference made possible after 15 years of lobbying because of the end of the ethnic war, the Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council (SLSC) said. The meeting is expected discuss policy issues, maritime security, shipping costs like terminal handling […]

July 10, 2009 (LBO) – Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) said it did not bid for a container terminal concession at Sri Lanka’s Colombo port for a second time because elements of its original bid were put in the second request for proposals. China is also financing a new port in Sri Lanka’s south in Hambantota.“..HPH […]

July 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan ship fuel suppliers in Colombo port are aiming to expand their market by selling bunkers to vessels passing the island, after the break-up of a monopoly lowered prices and boosted volumes, officials said.“We need to improve on that area,” said Kumar. “We need to look at an expanded […]

July 08, 2009 (LBO) – A consortium made up of Sri Lankan conglomerate Aitken Spence and China Merchant Holdings are the sole bidders to design and build a new container terminal in Colombo port, officials said.South Asia Gateway Terminals, which operates Colombo’s private container terminal, and China Harbour Engineering Company, which is building a port […]

July 05, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shipyard Colombo Dockyard said it has laid the keel for construction of the third Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessel for Greatship India.The vessels can undertake multi-purpose roles such as transportation of pipes, fresh water, diesel oil, bulk cement, stores, equipment, moving men and materials between platforms and shore, and […]

July 02, 2009 (LBO) – Lanka Maritime Services, a Sri Lankan supplier of ship fuel, said it has acquired an 8,800 DWT double-hull tanker to supply bunkers to ships calling at Colombo port.“This was to avoid loss of foreign exchange by way of payment of demurrage on chartered vessels and also reduce expenses in order […]

June 29, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government wants to attract investments for ship building, and cement and fertilizer manufacturing at a new port being built in southern Hambantota, a senior official said.Sri Lanka Ports Authority chairman Priyath Wickrama said construction work on the harbour, less than half-an-hour’s deviation from the main shipping route […]