Category: Shipping and Transport

March 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hemas Holdings has got two seats on the board of directors of Mercantile Shipping Company, a ship owner and operator in which it acquired a stake last year.Hemas group director Imtiaz Esufally and Irshad Mushin, director – maritime transportation of Hemas group, have been appointed non-executive directors of […]

Feb 26, 2009 (LBO) – A call for bids to build a new container terminal in Colombo port has drawn the interest of some of the world’s top port operators and shipping lines as well Sri Lankan conglomerates.The SLPA official would not name the latest bidders except to say that all the companies which had […]

Feb 17, 2009 (LBO) – A container terminal that is one of the main money-spinners for Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings (JKH) has seen a fall in volumes owing to the global economic crisis, brokers and shipping analysts said.But LMS lost a tank farm and an effective monopoly in fuel supply in Colombo port last […]

Feb 06, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has called for fresh bids from private investors to set up a collection facility in Colombo port for waste oil from ships which will be charged a fee for the service.The deadline for bids is April 3 with the decision on the successful bidder being made by June […]

Feb 05, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority has issued a long-awaited call for bids for a container terminal in a new deep-draft port being built next to the existing Colombo harbour. Bids will be opened by the Cabinet appointed negotiating committee on behalf of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority on May 19. […]

Jan 27, 2009 (LBO) – Colombo port will start taking delivery of the first batch of new cargo handling equipment to replace aging cranes from May this year, Sri Lanka Ports Authority chairman Priyath Wickrama said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Two pier-side gantry […]

Jan 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Galle port is sprucing itself up with a new yacht marina in a bid to attract the high-spending sailors who sail past the island’s south coast on their round-the-world voyages. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 “The facilities […]

Jan 23, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is awaiting government approval to operate a ‘dollar account’ to cut mounting foreign exchange losses due to a strong rupee and an appreciating yen, a senior official said. “We are planning to get a dollar account. If we can get permission from central bank […]

Jan 17, 2009 (LBO) – A sharp fall in freight rates owing to the global recession and oversupply of tonnage is helping Sri Lankan exporters cope with slowing demand in overseas markets and high domestic costs, trade officials said.Randolph Perera, chairman of the Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council representing exporters and importers, said the drop in […]

Jan 16, 2009 (LBO) – All Sri Lankan regional ports are loss-making and supported by earnings from Colombo harbour, Sri Lanka Ports Authority chairman Priyath Wickrema said.Sri Lankan ports are hugely overstaffed after successive governments stuffed them with supporters in order to win votes under the system of patronage politics practiced in the island. Ports […]

Jan 13, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority will start construction work on a yacht marina in the southern Galle harbour this week as part of efforts to promote it as a tourism port, a senior official said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to […]

Jan 09, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has begun training the children of retired workers being hired for jobs in the port but stressed productivity improvements were needed in the hugely overstaffed organisation.The SLPA said in a statement it had launched a new phase in its professional training programme called ‘Piya […]