Two bulk carriers for CSC
Sri Lanka will take delivery of two, 65,000-ton bulk carrier ships in
2016. The two ships are being built for the Ceylon Shipping Corporation
Ltd (CSC), the government official website reported last week, quoting
Ceylon Shipping Corporation Chairman Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage.
 The contract to build these two ships has been given to AVIC
International Beijing Company Limited a reputed and experienced ship
building company in China. The total investment is US$ 70 million and is
financed by the People's Bank.
He said they decided to build two ships as the shipping industry is
now facing a recession and it was viable to order new ships.
“The life of a new ship will be over 50 years as against a second
hand one which would be less than that,” Colombage said.
At present, Sri Lanka hires ships from other countries to freight
crude oil and coal to Sri Lanka.
“Our main aim is to stop this foreign exchange drain and we expect
that annually we will help Sri Lanka to save several billions by way of
freight charges,” the Chairman said.
There is a big demand for Sri Lankan seafarers as their track record
is unblemished. To support this we will train seafarers and provide
practical knowledge in these two ships.
He said that 5% of GDP in Philippines comes from shipping and the
local shipping industry could help to earn foreign exchange. If Sri
Lanka can produce 10 Shipping Masters their earnings would be equal to
earnings of 100 housemaids, he said.
The Shipping Corporation has also singed up with two leased ships to
train Lankan seafarers.
“We are negotiating with the companies to see if they could fly the
Sri Lanka flag from next year,” Colombage said.
It was also announced in the National Budget-2014, the need for
acquiring ships for CSCL to build a national fleet in the interest of
the country and the national economy, as it was in the glorious past of
CSCL, when the country owned and operated over 20 ships through the CSCL
to many ports in the world and training seafarers and providing jobs.
- Courtesy: PRIU
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