The shipping sector is witnessing a 10 to 15% drop in business due to the Easter Sunday attacks, General Manager Ship Repairs, Colombo Dockyard, Bennie Fernando said.
Speaking at a special felicitation event for their agents and the shipping sector at Marino Hotel, Colombo 3, he said that this is however less than the impact seen in the tourism sector.&We have lost business running to a couple of millions of dollars since ships are not keen to call over for repairs to Colombo Port and also place new orders due to the current security concerns&.
Similar to the Travel sector, Fernando also said that shipping industry too is affected by the adverse travel advisories, especially from European countries as some of them were the main buyers.
&Though some EU travel advisories are toned down, we are yet to see a positive move from The Netherland which is one of their largest buyers.