Inchcape Sri Lanka expands across Sri Lanka ports; 500-600 vessel calls annually.

Inchcape Sri Lanka targets growth as shifting trade brings new opportunities

Five years after returning to its historic Sri Lankan roots through a joint venture with John Keells Holdings (JKH), Inchcape has built a growing operation across the country’s four main ports. Country Operations Manager Nalin Senevirathne sees even greater potential in combining Inchcape’s global reach with JKH’s formidable local presence.

The Inchcape team of around 12 people now handles some 500-600 vessel calls a year across Sri Lanka’s four main ports, with international customers accounting for around 95% of the business. Behind it is a clear division: Inchcape’s global shipping network and customer base on one side, and the local reach, relationships and resources of one of Sri Lanka’s largest conglomerates on the other.

For Senevirathne, the focus is now firmly on controlled expansion – following what was a challenging start.

COVID hit soon after the joint venture was launched, followed by Sri Lanka’s political-economic crisis which forced the operation to concentrate on consolidating its position rather than pursuing all the commercial initiatives originally planned.

“We’re now in a very different position,” Nalin says. “We’re actively developing the business, steadily raising the visibility of the Inchcape brand in the market, and we’re seeing good traction and a lot of potential for further growth.”

Inchcape’s head office is in Colombo, with operational support extending across all four of Sri Lanka’s main ports. The company maintains an office in Hambantota, works through sub-agents in Trincomalee, and is planning to establish an office in Galle. Where required, Inchcape deploys its own personnel to oversee and support specialist operations, ensuring customers benefit from local expertise and direct operational oversight.

Colombo accounts for the majority of its husbandry activity, particularly crew changes, spares and logistics, and bunker calls, with container vessels predominating. Across the country, the team handles requirements ranging from underwater cleaning and survey and inspection to cruise and naval calls.

Galle offers the ability to support vessels without a conventional port call. A supply boat can travel around 12 nautical miles offshore to meet passing vessels, slowing down to transfer crew or other requirements. The service supports any ship type.

Trincomalee’s sheltered position on the east coast can make it suitable for certain operations when the southwest monsoon makes conditions more challenging elsewhere.

Hambantota, meanwhile, is a modern deep-water port close to the main East-West shipping route, with a growing role in Ro-Ro transshipment and bunkering.

Cruise business is also broadening beyond Colombo. Nalin points to a forthcoming vessel scheduled to spend around 15-18 days in Sri Lanka calling at all four ports – an example of the potential for Sri Lanka to feature as more than a single stop on an itinerary.

Inchcape Mackinnon Mackenzie Shipping is owned 60% by JKH and 40% by Inchcape. Its history stretches back much further: Mackinnon Mackenzie & Co was established in Ceylon in 1871 by Inchcape founders William Mackinnon and Robert Mackenzie and was acquired by JKH in 1974.

Today, the partnership works both ways. JKH’s extensive local interests include investments in South Asia Gateway Terminals and the West Container International Terminal, alongside businesses such as Keells Supermarkets, Mackinnons Travels and bunker supplier Lanka Marine Services. Inchcape brings its international network, global customer relationships, and operational standards.

Ship chandling shows how the combination could be exploited further. Through Keells, one of Sri Lanka’s largest supermarket chains, JKH has an established sourcing network that includes fresh produce bought directly from farmers, as well as the purchasing volumes that can help keep costs competitive. Inchcape, meanwhile, has relationships with major catering and ship supply companies, creating the potential to bring additional international customers to the Sri Lankan chandling business.

“If we can connect that international demand with the sourcing capabilities we have through JKH, there’s a real opportunity to build the chandling business,” Nalin says.

JKH also gives the operation access to commercial expertise and channels for escalating operational issues with authorities when necessary.

Inchcape’s digital network provides another link between the local operation and the wider group. The Sri Lankan team is responsible for providing and updating local port information in World of Ports, making the knowledge it develops available across the Inchcape network while giving it access to information from other locations worldwide. Optic supports the management of individual port calls, bringing operational and financial information together and giving customers visibility over the call.

Nalin sees the breadth of the team’s expertise as another differentiator. His operations executives can handle the full range of agency requirements – from husbandry and crew changes to bunkering and more unusual requests for local assistance – rather than working in narrow specialist roles.

They also take ownership of a job from start to finish. On a crew change in Colombo, for example, the same representative can coordinate everything from airport pickup to sign-on, ensuring seafarers move smoothly and safely from arrival to vessel.

That expertise is underpinned by a clear view of the agent’s responsibility to the customer.

“Somebody on the other side of the world is trusting you to act on their behalf. You have to understand that you’re representing them and make decisions in their interests.”

That can mean combining two transport requirements to save the customer money even if Inchcape earns slightly less as a result. Responsiveness matters too: the team’s standard is to provide an initial response within an hour and maintain communication throughout the operation.

That combination of expertise and responsiveness is helping Inchcape win new business. Nalin cites an Oil and Gas Major from the Middle East as a recent example, with Inchcape securing work from an incumbent agent and being lined up for further.

“We’re not going to win business by undercutting somebody by a few dollars,” he says. “We want to compete on the value of the service.”

Sri Lanka on the up

Nalin believes Sri Lanka is benefiting as geopolitical disruption changes established shipping routes. Colombo is seeing strong growth in transshipment, and Hambantota is developing rapidly.

MSC has already shifted some services to Hambantota and is reportedly in discussions about taking a stake, while Nalin is also seeing wider interest from international shipping lines in Sri Lankan port infrastructure.

Hambantota’s tank farm, which has historically provided storage for VLSFO and MDO, has added HSFO capacity, broadening the range of marine fuels available, including for larger scrubber-equipped vessels. Inchcape arranges bunkering through Lanka Marine Services, with barges currently mobilised from Colombo and the longer-term possibility of basing a bunker barge permanently at Hambantota as demand grows.

“We’ve been talking about Sri Lanka’s potential as a South Asian shipping hub for a long time, and I think this is a good time to capitalise on that,” Nalin says.

He sees Sri Lanka’s experienced shipping community as another advantage. Some port processes remain decidedly hands-on: an approval may still require taking a printed letter physically to the relevant authority rather than completing the process digitally. But that also means experienced agency personnel have a detailed understanding of the nuts and bolts of making a port operation happen – the approvals required, who to approach and how to resolve problems when they arise.

Having spent seven years working in shipping in Doha, Nalin has a regional point of comparison. “I think the level of operational experience we have here compares very well regionally,” he says. “We have the strategic location, the infrastructure is developing and we have an experienced shipping community.”

He sees the clearest growth path in winning more work from Inchcape’s international customer base, using its global commercial network to convert those relationships into local business.

As volumes grow, he also wants to build greater depth in the operations team, ensuring the business has the people and expertise to support that expansion.

Bitten by the shipping bug

Nalin brings around 15 years of shipping experience to that task. Born and raised in the Sri Lankan capital, he is a BSc graduate from the University of Colombo and entered the industry as a management trainee with GAC (Gulf Agency Company). He went on spend five years with GAC in Doha and another two with Nakilat LNG Shipping.

COVID brought him back to Sri Lanka. After returning to GAC and a brief move into business development for Port City Colombo economic zone, he joined the Inchcape-JKH operation – attracted, he says, by the combination of a major global shipping services company and one of Sri Lanka’s leading corporate groups.

His approach to leadership is deliberately personal. “I keep close to the team, not only professionally but personally as well,” he says. “This is a 24

7 business and we’re asking people to be flexible for us, so I think we also have to be flexible towards them.”

That can mean accommodating the personal circumstances of people who may be called on at short notice or outside normal working hours. Maintaining that give-and-take is key in a business where an urgent problem can overturn the day’s plans without warning.

“What I really love is how dynamic this job is,” he says. “Every day is different and you never know what’s going to come up.”

Shipping was not an obvious career choice. He entered the industry on the advice of a mentor, and recalls something one of his early managers told him: if you want to stay in shipping, “it’s got to get in your blood”.

It clearly did get into his. Now he is putting that energy into building Inchcape Sri Lanka rooted in the responsiveness and personal service he believes set it apart.

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