Ceylon Shipping Corporation, Sri Lanka's national shipping line, has struck a deal with a member of a famous Hellenic shipping dynasty for a joint venture project to transport petroleum products and supply ship fuel.
"We have signed an MoU to see if we can form a joint venture company to go for oil transportation, particularly for CPC (Ceylon Petroleum Corporation) and also to do bunkering in Colombo," a senior company official said. The MoU was signed with Pyrros Vardinoyannis, scion of one of Hellas’ well-known shipping families with interests in shipping as well as petroleum. The joint venture has tentatively been named CSC Kandia. "We have signed a kind of pre-incorporation agreement outlining the objectives of the joint venture," the CSC official said. "The Hellenic party will provide a vessel, either their own or chartered, and invest along with the CSC. We're looking to see whether a joint venture company of both parties can be formed to go into business." The official said the joint venture is aiming to bid for a tender from the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, the state oil refiner, for a long-term transport contract to ship petroleum products. The CPC is calling tenders for freight. The CPC wants to go for long-term freight contracts to reduce costs and be able to ship bigger parcels, officials said. The CSC official said the joint venture is also eyeing opportunities to do bunkering in Colombo, south Asia's transhipment hub. Bunker prices in Colombo are among the highest in the region and there is scope for more competition, officials said. The Vardinoyannis family network includes shipping and petroleum refining as well as sports. It is one of Greece's close-knit shipping clans that are connected to each other and have considerable influence in the maritime world.
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