Shipping
Hambantota Port could offer storage facilities
Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA
Sri Lanka could be developed as a centre offering storage facilities
for ships calling at the Hambantota Port. The country would be known for
its Port in Hambantota as it will create a landmark in the global
shipping scenario. It can offer a variety of services apart from
bunkering and ship repairs, Master Divers Chairman Ariyaseela
Wickramanayake told Daily News Business.
The country needs to train its manpower requirement for the shipping
industry and be geared to meet the challenges as there will be an
increased movement in the Hambantota Port with its completion. We need
to reposition ourselves to meet the services demanded, he said.
"Galle was the main Port in the past and we shifted the activities to
Colombo. We could attract around 200 ships passing Hambantota as the
Port is in the main shipping lane", he said.
The country could offer ship chandling services to vessels that berth
at Hambantota. We need to be prepared also train youth for the industry
related services.
It is necessary to be prepared with docking facilities. This will be
a huge task ahead of us, he said.
The Hambantota Port is vital for efficient sea transportation.
Shipping activities would rotate around the Hambantota Port in the near
future.
The Hambantota Port could attract feeder service from all other Ports
in the world, he said.
"We need to shift our capital to Magampura in the Southern Province.
This would reduce unnecessary congestion and the high land value in
Colombo. With the development of the shipping industry the country's
tourism sector too could be developed and Sri Lanka could be one of the
richest countries in Asia, he said.
Developing local boat building industry and multi-day fishing
Boat Building Technology Improvement Institute (BTI) and the newly
formed All Island Multi-day Fishing Industry Chamber of Commerce
recently organized a forum of their members to discuss the issue
currently faced by them in the development of the local boat building
industry and multi-day fishing in Sri Lanka.
During the proceedings of the forum following issues were highlighted
and the forum unanimously decided to forward these issues for your kind
attention for appropriate immediate action.
Boat building industry
There is a lull in the local market for multi-day fishing vessels
causing many small boatyards to close down their operations. Currently
only few boatyards, all medium scale, are able to operate with breakeven
due to lack of demand from this sector but concentrating on export
market.
Due to over supply and poor technical designs and specification of
Multi-day boats presently in operation, the harvest they bring is of
poor quantity and quality and not suitable for exports and fetches very
low prices. These boats need up-grading in technical aspects starting
from making it suitable for long line fishing, improving the speed, fish
preservation on board, use of navigation and fish finding systems etc.
However, there is no scheme or a project initiated by the authorities to
this effect. This too has contributed to the low activities in the boat
industry.
We have found that there are investors willing to invest in either
technically advanced new Multi-day fishing boats or upgrading of
existing boats for better performance, there is no project or financing
scheme available in the country. Even the banks have not initiated any
scheme to this effect mainly sighting the collateral issue as an excuse.
Opening of the North and East after 30 years for fishing industry
activities shows a green light in the direction of increased market for
multi-day fishing vessels. However there are no attempts from the
authorities to start a program to stimulate the boat market. Instead we
were made to know that the Bank of Ceylon is trying to offer a credit
line with the blessings of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to offer credit
facilities at concessionary terms to import second hand boats currently
not being used in countries such as Taiwan, Norway, Indonesia and Japan.
To this effect two officers have visited the Male boat show held from
12-14th this month in search of boats, which show their intentions and
knowledge about this industry.
Therefore, we earnestly request you to take appropriate action to
stimulate the market demand for Multi-day Fishing vessels in Sri Lanka
to help the Local Boat Industry to survive the rough period they are
facing right now. The actions we propose are:
* To immediately create awareness with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka
and Bank of Ceylon regarding the capacity and capability of the Boat
Building Industry in Sri Lanka to build the technically superior
Multi-day fishing boats required for logline fishing. For example a
large number of tuna long liners have been built by local boat yards
equipped with modern fishing equipment and are been used by several
fishing companies and individuals very successfully. Also the tuna long
liners have been built by local manufacturers and exported to countries
in the region, Madagascar, Seychelles, Middle East etc. Presently there
are few boats being manufactured for exports as well.
* Immediately to cease the scheme to provide credit facilities to
import second hand vessels which are currently not operated by those
countries and
* Instead introduce the facility to purchase locally produced new
boats from local manufacturers creating much needed stimulus in this
industry.
* Persuade the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and Bank of Ceylon to also
introduce a loan scheme at concessionary terms to the Multi-Boat Owners
who wants to upgrade their vessels to make them technically superior for
profitable long line fishing. This will definitely stimulate the
dynamism in the boat building industry creating positive impacts such as
securing employment of boatyard workers and creation of new
opportunities for raw material suppliers, engine and equipment, fishing
gear and accessories suppliers.
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