Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers-SL elects Anoma Ranasinghe as Chairperson

Seated from left: Secretary Shamalee Premasiri, Immediate Past Chairman Lalith Witanachchi, Chairperson Anoma Ranasinghe, Vice Chairman Manjula Agalawatta and Education Officer Kingsley Abeywickrama
Standing from left: Treasurer Dinesh Fernando and Committee Members Kalinga Seneviratne, Roshana Silva, Navin Perera, Primal Peiris and Charindha Grero 

At the  Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Institute  of Chartered Shipbrokers (UK) Sri Lanka branch (ICS-SL) held at The Kingsbury recently, McLarens Shipping General Manager Documentation and Training Anoma Ranasinghe was elected uncontested as its first Chairperson. 

She holds the distinction of being the first lady to be elected to this position in Sri Lanka and the only lady to hold this post in the Asian region.

Ranasinghe has been actively involved with the ICS-SL branch since 1998, serving as the Education Officer. She was responsible for arranging many successful education programmes over the years. She now serves as Secretary of ICS-SL.
Having commenced her career in shipping with American President Lines (APL), she was trained in Hong Kong and Singapore on shipping documentation and cargo claims. After a stint she moved to MOL and from there on to Wan Hai and is currently responsible for the liner, tramp, NVOC and logistics documentation of GAC Companies, Sri Lanka.
Ranasinghe is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers –UK (FICS) and also a Chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport - UK (CMILT). She is currently Vice Chairperson Membership Services and Education of Women in Logistics & Transport – Sri Lanka (WiLAT) and also a Committee Member of Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) – Sri Lanka. 

She is a renowned lecturer in shipping and international trade both locally and overseas and has over 35 years of experience in all aspects of the local shipping trade. She plays a pivotal role in mentoring young aspiring students and undergraduates joining the transport industry. She is a very knowledgeable individual who has dedicated most of her career in training and education in the field of maritime transport and logistics.

The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) London, founded in 1911 and received the ‘Royal Charter’ in the year 1921, is fundamentally dedicated to promote professionalism in the international maritime industry through shipping education and training. Its worldwide acceptance affirm the ‘institute’ as the only professional body that sets the highest standards of professional service to the shipping industry the world over, through the provision of an internationally recognized education programme.  

The ICS-SL is the leading professional institution in the local maritime industry, involved in shipping education and training. Having established in the year 1987, during the 28 years of existence, the branch has been vigorously pursuing the ideals of the parent body, in raising the professional standards of the local maritime industry. The Members/Fellows of ICS take extraordinary pride in living up to the institute’s motto ‘Our word our bond’, indeed a hallmark of professionalism in this global industry. Thus, the ICS Club is an exclusive society and there are no parallels in existence, at present.