Business Shipping

CPC bid for lowering bunker prices

Hiran H. Senewiratne

In a bid to bring down the Colombo bunker prices the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) will tie up with a global ship supply firm, GAC Ships to supply bunkers or ship fuel, CPC official said.

Currently, Sri Lankan bunker charges are rather high in the region. This has adversely affected the Colombo Port’s competitiveness in the region With this move bunker prices in Colombo port is expected to come down which now is among the highest in the world. And also it will improve availability of bunkering fuel in Colombo Port.

Even though privatisation was supposed to end the monopoly, LMS held an effective monopoly on ship fuel sales as it owns the only available shore based storage tanks.

LMS is a subsidiary of John Keells Holdings (JKH), which was purchased from CPC sometime ago with the privatisation of this sector, the sources said.

Bunker prices in Colombo are high because of limited supply and the need to get fuel from overseas.

Competitive private bunker supplier Sri Lanka Shipping uses floating storage tankers. CPC chairman Ashantha de Mel had previously announced the company’s intention of getting back into the profitable bunkering business and that they were looking for a tie-up with a partner.

The CPC’s planned re-entry into bunkering would help reduce prices in Colombo. De Mel has said that the CPC could bring down prices by keeping a lower margin. The Corporation plans to make up for reduced margins by increased volumes.

The GAC group, which is active in the Middle East region, has an office in Sri Lanka with its partners McLarens shipping company.

Maritime training centre to produce skilled sailors

SLPA to utilize a land of 42 perches for the new office of Lanka Shipping Corporation and Maritime Training Centre.

Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and Lanka Shipping Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for this purpose recently. The MoU was signed by the Chairman of SLPA Saliya Wickramasuriya and the Chairman of Lanka Shipping Corporation Y.L.T. Hameed.

The MoU was signed at a function held with the initiative of Minister of Port and Aviation Chamal Rajapaksa. Minister of Port Development Dilan Perera also participated at the occasion. Lanka Shipping Corporation is currently operating in a building on rent basis. A Committee which represents both parties would implement planning, supervision and financial requirements for the new building.

LHI scores highest in Employee Opinion Survey

LHI Coast and Water - Lanka Hydraulic Institute scored a healthy satisfaction and commitment index of 85 in their recently concluded Employee Opinion Survey, which is the highest achieved index so far in the Service Industry in Sri Lanka.

The score surpasses several blue chip companies operating in Sri Lanka. This Survey was conducted as a part of their Human Resource Development Plan, to study and understand the current level of satisfaction among its employees and to know the way forward for the Company’s growth and progress. Being a Knowledge Company, LHI’s main business is export of knowledge, worldwide.

This survey was conducted by TNS Lanka. TNS Lanka based their findings on a specific model of their own which was a approach to measure relationships with all relevant stakeholder groups.

Answers to interviews and questionnaires conducted to employees of LHI were used to arrive at this conclusion.

Chief Executive/Director of LHI, Malith Mendis, said “It is very important for us to keep our employees, majority of them being highly skilled and professional engineers, satisfied and motivated for the progress of the Company, especially since ours is a service-oriented organization and half our turnover is on export of services”.

LHI’s staff consists of a proficient and knowledgeable team of Engineers specialized in Coastal Engineering, Water Resources and Urban Water, and the Company provides consultancy services including mathematical and physical modelling. LHI has a modern state-of-the-art Laboratory in Moratuwa, adjacent to the University.

The majority of Engineers have been trained in their respective fields in institutions local and/or overseas. The Survey consisted of many areas of Management which Employees declared their opinions on, such as, Management Style/Culture, Working Environment, Company Image, Leadership, Change Process, Internal Communication etc.

“The information garnered by this Survey has given Management Knowledge that directly impacts the bottom line and foster positive employee relations through procedures such as streamlining communication, identifying cost saving opportunities, assessing training needs, gauging employees’ understanding of and agreement with the Company’s vision and so on”, said Mendis.

All areas for improvement and development, based on the findings of the Survey, were included to the HRM Development Project and also the Company’s Business Plan. “As a Service provider we focus more on people-related outcomes, as these are treated as the key drivers for improvement initiatives, targeted on Change processes which are currently stirring at LHI, He said.

Dockyard growth continues

Complimented by the Indian and Chinese economies maintaining a growth rate above 10 per cent in the last year, the ship repair market continued on its upward trend with the Indian sector contributing a record number of tankers secured for dry docking and lay up repairs, reveals 2001 Dockyard Annual Report.

One of CDPLC’s greatest milestones during the year was recording the highest number of repaired tankers numbering 18 with a cumulative GRT recording 580,964 and deadweight tonnage registered at 1,018,482 tons, to generate an impressive revenue contribution through the SR Sector.

The main repair volumes were buoyed by the Shipping Corporation of India and some private owners whose repeat calls also signalled the confidence they had in CDPLC, in having the ability to effect repairs on their fleets to the required stringent standards.

We have also seen a remarkable increase in the demand for dry docks within this region and globally as well, which has instigated a forward booking trend, to about two to three months in advance.

CDPLC made further inroads in proving our wide ranging capabilities and adherence to rigorous international quality standards by working with some of the most discerning customers within the global industry.

The company was commended by the Dredging Corporation of India (DCI), one of the key dredging players in the South Asian region of successfully completing repairs to the DCI dredgers.

Dockyard worked with one of the world’s biggest fleet operators and owners, Ofer (Ships Holdings) Ltd. Israel, conducting major steel renewal work and routine dry dock repairs on MV SCI Mahima, a container carrier GRT 37,814.