SHIPPING

Colombo South harbour terminal BOT agreement inked

The signing of the Built Own Transfer (BOT) Agreement for the first terminal at the Colombo South Harbour, took place in Shenzhen, China.

The construction of this terminal is one of the largest Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects taken off the ground recently in Sri Lanka and the signing occurred with the President's State visit to China to attend the opening ceremony of the 26th Universiade Shenzhen 2011.

Colombo South Harbour project

The signatories to the agreement were China Merchants Holdings (International) Co.Ltd. (CMHI), Aitken Spence PLC and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), holding 55%, 30% and 15% stakes respectively and the joint venture thus formed for the project was the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) as the operating company.

The signing ceremony eventuated at Shekou's Nanhai Hotel with CMHI Managing Director, Dr. Hu Jianhua, Aitken Spence Deputy Chairman and Managing Director Rajan Brito, SLPA Chairman Dr. Priyath Bandu Wickrama and SLPA Managing Director Capt. Nihal Keppetipola participating as signatories.

The expansion of the Port of Colombo has been identified by the government as the flagship development endeavour in the current decade, targeted at giving Colombo a competitive edge over other regional ports.

The Phase 1 of Colombo South Harbour, envisaging three terminals of over 1,200m in length each to accommodate four berths alongside depths of 18 meters with provision to deepen to 23 meters to accommodate deeper draft vessels in the future, is scheduled to be carried out in stages. The first stage involves the development of basic infrastructure with public funds, i.e. the breakwater, which by now is over 66% completed and the second stage involves the construction of the South Container Terminal on a BOT basis with Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for which the SLPA entered into an agreement last Friday. Building of East and West terminals will be undertaken in later stages.

The remainder of the infrastructure building will be carried out simultaneously with the construction of the South Container Terminal. The China Development Bank Corporation has agreed to fund the project with a loan facility up to US$ 350 million and the rest of the capital is to be raised by the shareholders equity.

The first 600m quay length of the South Container Terminal is expected to be open for operations by December 2013 and the entire terminal consisting of four berths of 300 M each will be completed there after.

At the end of the 35 years of BOT concession period, the whole terminal infrastructure will be transferred to SLPA at no additional cost.

The South Container Terminal when completed will provide a harbour basin of 18m depth, to accommodate most modern container megaships and have a handling capacity of 2.4 million Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) and when the Phase 1 of the project becomes fully-blossomed with three such terminals each having a capacity of 2.4 million TEUs will cater for additional 7.2 million TEUs over the existing capacity of the Port of Colombo, undoubtedly making Colombo the mega hub in South Asia.

Containerisation International Awards recognizes Aitken Spence

Aitken Spence's port efficiency enhancement and terminal management services arm, Port Management Container Services Ltd, was one of the three shortlisted listed finalists for the Investment in People award at the inaugural Containerisation International Awards held in London recently.

The award attracted 90 applications from companies worldwide.

Mentoring the RTG and Gantry Crane Operators on how the best practices are applied in their operations.

The other two finalists were Port of Salalah in Oman and the Belgium-based multinational Safmarine Lines.

Containerisation International is the magazine of choice in the container business world.

The magazine has been a leader in its field since it published its first issue back in 1967 and has established itself as the foremost analytical voice on container shipping and provides invaluable news and statistics to the container markets and related businesses.

The Containerisation International Awards was the first global ceremony held to acknowledge and recognize the leaders, achievers, and innovators in the container shipping industry who have over the past year made an outstanding contribution by being innovative, proactive and pioneering.

More than 200 delegates from the global shipping industry attended the inaugural Containerisation International Awards event held in central London recently. The company said it received the prestigious award due to their focus on introducing cost effective programmes and best practices to motivate, train and transfer skills to enable their partners and clients to improve productivity at their terminals and also maintain a motivated work force. Port Management Container Services specializes in conducting efficiency, productivity and quality enhancement programmes in container ports and terminals.

It also conducts programmes on training the trainer, mentorship, human resource and change management.

PMCS has been working closely with the Transnet Port Terminals of South Africa, the National Ports Authority of South Africa and Ports Authority of Mozambique.

The programmes which PMCS has conducted are in Best Practices in Container Operations, which is aimed at training container terminal personnel in enhancing, efficiency, productivity and quality in container terminals, Best Practices in Marine Operations, which is aimed at increasing efficiency and productivity in navigational related activities in ports, and Best Practices in Terminal Operations and Ship Planning.

Six Somalis on trial in France for yacht hijacking

Six Somali men accused of taking a French couple hostage on their yacht went on trial in Paris on Tuesday in France's first prosecution of alleged Somali pirates.

They are facing charges of hijacking, kidnapping and armed robbery after they allegedly seized the yacht and its crew, Jean-Yves Delanne and his wife Bernadette, both aged 60, off the coast of Somalia in 2008.

They face life in prison if convicted.

The six, aged between 21 and 35, were captured and flown to France after French special forces stormed the yacht, the Carre d'As IV, and rescued the couple. A seventh suspect was killed in the raid.

One of the suspects was a minor at the time of the crime but the court granted the defence's request to hold the trial in public and not behind closed doors.

The suspects had reportedly demanded a ransom of $2 million (1.5 million) for the couple's release.

But in the French courtroom Tuesday only one of them admitted to taking part as an "underling" in the hostage-taking.

"I was in such a financial situation, I have six children, it was then that I crossed paths with someone who recruited me," said Ahmed Hamoud Mahmoud, a fisherman who is accused of being one of the leaders of the operation.

Another Somali suspect claimed he himself was "kidnapped" by pirates who commandeered his boat to carry out the operation.

One suspect spoke of being grabbed by pirates when he got into trouble in the Gulf of Aden en route to Yemen to look for work, while another said all did was cook the food.

Their trial, which resumes Wednesday and is expected to last to November 30, marks the first time France has brought alleged Somali pirates to court. Somali suspects in three other cases are currently awaiting trial.

Dozens of ships, mainly merchant vessels, have been seized by gangs off Somalia's 3,700-kilometre (2,300-mile) coastline in recent years.

The pirates travel in high-powered speedboats and are armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. They sometimes hold ships for weeks until they are released for large ransoms paid by governments or owners. AFP

Ship Suppliers' AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Ship Suppliers' Association will be held on November 18, 2011 at Galadari Hotel, Colombo.

The Sri Lanka Ship Suppliers' Association established in 1975 comprises members with the main objective to find solution to the problems faced by ship chandlers. The Association grew up with sound membership and has sixty four members, Association Chairman A Samson C de Silva told Daily News.

The industry earns foreign exchange providing supplies to ships calling at Sri Lankan ports.

The association meets with the challenges faced by the chandlers more efficiently with the requirements and rendering a great assistance to maintain high dignity to the country, the Chairman said.

Flemingo Liners partnered the SLIM (Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing), to offer all members of the SLIM body a 50% return offer on the ferry. The picture shows CSCL Chairman Prasad Galhena and SLIM President Thushara Perera shaking hands, while Staff Captain Konstantinidi Miltiadis and SLIM Project Chairman Prasad Hewagama looks on.