Worldwide Container Shipping news - Archive 2008, March

  News was prepared under the information
support of Online Daily Newspaper
on Hellenic and international
Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".




Latest news    « News archive

20 Mar 2008

Algoma Central purchases 3 bulk carriers

Algoma Central Corp. has expanded its fleet with the purchase of three ocean-going bulk carriers from a Norwegian company for $38 million.The three handysize sister vessels, each with a carrying capacity of 34,000 tonnes - small enough to fit through ... »

20 Mar 2008

Fourth IMO - EC meeting reinforces working relationship

Mr. Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Transport, visited the IMO Secretary-General, Mr. Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, at IMO Headquarters in London on Friday 14 March 2007, within the framework of co-operation ... »

20 Mar 2008

India, an important base for Wartsila's global business

Finland-based Wartsila sees India as an important component in its global business plans. India is not only a market, but an important source of skilled manpower and source for equipment and components that support Wartsila's global operations, accor ... »

20 Mar 2008

Mombasa port attracts more shipping traffic

The Mombasa Port has been experiencing increased traffic of ships in the recent past, as importers rush to cover lost time caused by the post-election violence. Shippers said most cargo owners had gone slow on importation of cargo due to the insecuri ... »

20 Mar 2008

HK up 3.7pc to 3.08m TEU, Singapore up 12pc to 4.6m TEU, Shanghai up 2.5pc to 1.8m TEU in February

Figures from the Hong Kong Marine Department show the port handled 3.08 million TEU in February, an increase of 9.6 per cent over the 1.5 million throughput in February last year, and representing a 44.2 per cent increase in a month to month comparis ... »

20 Mar 2008

New Maersk Line BAF formula: North America – Mediterranean/Middle East trade

As previously announced, Maersk Line will roll out a new global formula for calculation of floating BAF (Bunker Adjustment Factor) during the course of 2008. The structure of the formula will be the same for all trades, whereas the variables in the f ... »

20 Mar 2008

PSA sees slower box traffic

SINGAPORE, the world's busiest container harbour, will likely report slower growth this year as global economic uncertainty crimps cargo demand, according to the port's biggest operator. 'We'll see weaker growth this year, due to economic cooling,' K ... »

20 Mar 2008

Rickmers Maritime Announces Proposed Acquisition of 13 Containerships

Rickmers Maritime announced that it has entered into 13 conditional memoranda of agreement (MOA) with the wholly owned subsidiaries of Polaris Shipmanagement Company Limited (Polaris, and the wholly owned subsidiaries of Polaris, collectively referre ... »

20 Mar 2008

Ships sail to scrap yards via legal loophole

Today at least 189 oceangoing vessels of all types, 25 years old or older, fly the US flag. Ships of that vintage – from tankers to container ships – typically contain tons of asbestos, PCBs, and other toxic chemicals, far above US regulatory maximum ... »

20 Mar 2008

UK holds six vessels

THE UK's Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) detained six foreign ships during February 2008 after failing Port State Control (PSC) inspection. In February 159 Port State Control inspections were carried out in the UK. A total of 41 vessels had no ... »

20 Mar 2008

Ports to offer distillate incentives

The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach may offer incentives to shipowners to burn distillate fuel in port areas and offshore, the two authorities announced."This proposal would immediately improve the air quality of Southern California," ... »

19 Mar 2008

Knightsbridge Tankers Limited (VLCCF) - Announces Long Term Charter Contract

Knightsbridge Tankers Limited ("Knightsbridge" or the "Company") announces that it has agreed to fix out on time charter one of its two Capesize bulk carriers currently under construction at Daehan Shipbuilding Co. Ltd in the Republic of Korea. The c ... »

19 Mar 2008

Abu Dhabi begins dredging at site of new Khalifa Port

Abu Dhabi Ports Company on Monday said it has started dredging and reclamation of 45 million cubic metres of material on February 17 at the site of the planned Khalifa Port, one of the world's largest greenfield offshore port and industrial zone deve ... »

19 Mar 2008

Ships moving on Houston Channel -Coast Guard

Ships resumed moving in both directions along the the Houston Ship Channel by late Monday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Dense sea fog reduced visibility to unsafe levels for five hours on the 53-mile (85 kilometer) waterway between the busiest ... »

19 Mar 2008

Hanjin Shipping turns to Kalmar for a fleet of new terminal tractors

Kalmar Industries has won an order to supply 96 terminal tractors to Hanjin Shipping - South Korea's largest shipping company - for operation at its new container terminal as part of the Pusan New Port Project, earmarked as the country's pr ... »

19 Mar 2008

Slower pace characterizes shipping freight market says Dahlman Rose

In his latest weekly report, Dahlman Rose analyst, Omar Nokta notes that the frenzied pace of the dry bulk  spot market of the dry bulk spot market during the last week of February and the first week of March was replaced last week by a somewhat ... »

19 Mar 2008

Sempra's Costa Azul LNG Terminal May See First Ship Next Month

Sempra Energy's Costa Azul liquefied natural gas terminal in Mexico is to receive an LNG tanker next month, AISLive data on Bloomberg shows.The Sempra facility, once completed, will be the first LNG importing terminal to begin operation on the west c ... »

19 Mar 2008

Santos' container terminal starts a $100 million expansion project

Santos' Tecondi container terminal (Terminal para Contêineres da Margem Direita S/A) has confirmed a $100 million expansion project to almost triple its handling capacity up to 700,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year.Reports say that off ... »

19 Mar 2008

Singapore port expansion to boost capacity by 40%

Singapore will invest US$260 million in a five-year port expansion project that will start this year, agencies report.The container handling capacity of the port is expected to jump 40 percent after expansion. The higher capacity will help the port m ... »

19 Mar 2008

LA port to consider clean air proposals

The Port of Los Angeles today posted its final recommendations for a Port of Los Angeles Clean Truck Programme (CTP). The programme is designed to achieve long-term sustainability, accelerate the replacement of high-polluting trucks with cleaner truc ... »

19 Mar 2008

Danish shipping group DFDS A/S acquires two ro-ro cargo vessels

Danish shipping group DFDS A/S said that it has agreed to purchase the ro-ro cargo vessels Finnmaster and Finnreel from British interests in order to further strengthen its services in the North Sea.The vessels, both built in 2000 at the JinLing ship ... »

19 Mar 2008

G E Shipping contracts to sell Handysize dry bulk carrier

The Great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd. (G E Shipping) has contracted to sell its Handysize dry bulk carrier ''Jag Vikas'' (1977 built, 26,781 dwt). The ship is scheduled to be delivered to the buyers during Q1 FY2008-09. The Company's decision to sell th ... »

19 Mar 2008

Algoma Central purchases 3 bulk carriers

Algoma Central Corp. has expanded its fleet with the purchase of three ocean-going bulk carriers from a Norwegian company for $38 million.The three handysize sister vessels, each with a carrying capacity of 34,000 tonnes - small enough to fit through ... »

19 Mar 2008

India: Ship workers challenge cut-off date for CDC eligibility

The Directorate General of Shipping is having a tough time defending the "logic" of its rules regarding issuance of Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC) to seamen in an ongoing case before the Bombay High Court. Seamen's Union, a trade union of mer ... »

19 Mar 2008

Sovcomflot to Service Gazprom's Offshore Projects

 Shamalov, Gazflot General Director.

The parties will work closely to develop logistical solutions for the transportation of oil and gas in the Arctic region. Sovcomflot will also assist Gazflot in procuring offshore drilling and production equ ... »

19 Mar 2008

Midland Shipping Company Ltd. expands its fleet of dry cargo carriers

Midland Shipping Company Ltd. (Canada), part of Midland Group, is to expand the fleet of its dry cargo carriers for transportation of cargo in the basins of Mediterranean, Baltic and Black Seas as well as the Sea of Azov, Interfax reports according t ... »

19 Mar 2008

James Fisher FY pretax pre-ex up 21 pct, says shipping markets remain strong

James Fisher, the UK-based marine services provider, reported a 21 pct increase in pretax profits before exceptionals of 19.2 mln stg for the year to end-December, reflecting strength in shipping, offshore and port services.Revenues increased 54 pct ... »

19 Mar 2008

Grindrod acquires Bay Stevedores

Grindrod yesterday announced the acquisition of the business of Bay Stevedores (Pty) Ltd, backdated to be effective from 1 July 2007. The cost of the investment is undisclosed. Bay Stevedores will become a division of Grindrod Terminals (Pty) Ltd, a ... »

19 Mar 2008

TUI posts increase of 47% in operating earnings for 2007, shipping to grow 7% in 2008

TUI AG, the tourism and shipping group, has delivered a positive summary of the 2007 financial year. It achieved a significant increase in turnover, operating earnings, Group earnings and earnings per share. '2007 was a good year for us. We were set ... »

19 Mar 2008

Ship main engines excluded from new EPA emissions rules

The US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) released new emissions standards for marine engines, but not for Category 3 engines."The regulations apply to both newly manufactured marine diesel engines and remanufactured commercial marine diesel en ... »

19 Mar 2008

American Bureau of Shipping Approves SSPC Protective Coatings Inspector (PCI) Program

The Society for Protective Coatings is pleased to announce that effective February 11, 2008, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the world's second largest commercial shipping classification society, has approved SSPC's PCI program as equivalent t ... »

19 Mar 2008

Dryships' Increasingly Valuable Fleet of Vessels

There is another reason to buy Dryships, the largest publicly traded drybulk shipper, besides its extremely low PE relative to its industry and market and its high net income relative to expenses: it has a large fleet of vessels that is becoming more ... »

19 Mar 2008

Paragon Shipping Inc. Fixes Pearl Seas On Three Year Time Charter

Paragon Shipping Inc., a global shipping transportation company specializing in dry bulk cargoes, announced yesterday that it fixed its' 74,273 dwt 2006-built Panamax drybulk carrier, the Pearl Seas, on a three-year time charter at a daily rate of $5 ... »

19 Mar 2008

Hellenic Carriers announces dividend

 Hellenic Carriers Limited,, an international provider of marine transportation services, which owns and operates a fleet of six drybulk vessels that transport iron ore, grain, steel products and minor bulk cargoes, yesterday announced the dates ... »

19 Mar 2008

Persian Gulf Tanker Rates Post Biggest Increase in Six Weeks

The cost of shipping Middle East crude to Asia rose the most in more than six weeks amid tanker bookings by Chevron Corp. and ENI SpA. The two companies both hired so-called very large crude carriers to ship a combined 4 million barrels of crude oil ... »

19 Mar 2008

EU project prototypes methanol fuel cell for ships

After nearly one and a half years of research and development, the EU-funded METHAPU ('Validation of renewable methanol based auxiliary power systems for commercial vessels') project is about to start trials on a prototype of a methanol-based solid o ... »

19 Mar 2008

Asian Fuel Tanker Rates May Extend Declines on Refinery Works

Asian hiring rates for large-range oil-product tankers may decline for a third week as maintenance shutdowns by refineries leave less fuel available for shipment.Hiring costs for a ship that can carry 75,000 metric tons of fuel, also known as a large ... »

19 Mar 2008

Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) Increases 2007 Dividend by 25% and Reports EPS of $4.81 for Full Year 2007 and $1.37 for Fourth Quarter 2007

Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited (TEN) yesterday reported results for the full year and fourth quarter ended December 31, 2007.Net income was $183.2 million for 2007 as compared with $196.4 million for 2006. Basic earnings per share based on weighted ... »

18 Mar 2008

Academy to produce 'sought-after' mariners

A LOCAL university has developed a maritime program that seeks to produce graduates who will help address the growing global demand for merchant marines. The Southwestern University (SWU) Maritime Academy, however, is unlike other schools offering ma ... »

18 Mar 2008

Ships hit by crew shortage

SHIPS have been delayed leaving Tasmanian ports as a result of a nationwide shortage of skilled mariners. Maritime Union Australia state secretary Jason Campbell said Tasmania was not immune to the national shortage of base-level seamen, otherwise kn ... »

18 Mar 2008

Bank-led group eyes TUI's shipping unit-source

A bank-led investor group, which includes a majority owner of Kuehne & Nagel, is mulling a bid for TUI's shipping business, a source familiar with the matter said. The source said no offer has been made, adding that Klaus-Michael Kuehne, who cont ... »

18 Mar 2008

Dryships: Undervalued Compared to Competitors - and the Market

In my last article, I pointed out how Dryships (DRYS) has been panned by the investment community despite a low PE and formidable earnings and revenue growth. To recap, Dryships is a shipping company that hauls commodities such as iron, coal, and fer ... »

18 Mar 2008

Hellenic ports tender results to delay on private bidders request

Greece's largest port facility Piraeus (OLP) will delay announcing the winner of a tender to upgrade and manage its cargo facilities at the request of bidders, a company official said on Friday. "The announcement has been postponed until May 9, to sa ... »

18 Mar 2008

Sri Lanka Ports Authority and Denmark Contractors signe MOU for the construction of Oluvil Port

Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and the Denmark Contractors, Mt. Hojgaard signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the construction of Oluvil Port Project . The signing took place between the Acting Chairman of SLPA  Priyath Bandu Wickr ... »

18 Mar 2008

Dar cargo terminal in $62m expansion

The container terminal at the port of Dar es Salaam is to be expanded at a cost of $62 million to enable it to handle the rapidly increasing trade of the country and neighbouring markets. Tanzania International Container Terminal Services (TICTS) whi ... »

18 Mar 2008

SOCAR to start construction of dry cargo and LPG terminal in 2008

Georgian Government has approved the launch of oil terminal in Kulevi (the country's Black Sea coast) RusEnergy quotes the General Director of SOCAR Energy Georgia Makhir Mamedov. ''There are only several documentary issues and the borders of the por ... »

18 Mar 2008

Ship-to-ship operations at Kochi — New channel for cargo transfer

Continuing its efforts to diversify and attract new businesses, the Cochin Port Trust is promoting an entirely new venture — ship-to-ship transfer operations of various types of liquid cargo, such as crude, POL products, LPG, and chemicals for Indian ... »

18 Mar 2008

China Merchants Group has plans to introduce cold ironing at the company's ports

China's largest port operator China Merchants Group has plans to introduce cold ironing at the company's ports in China to cut shipping emissions.Dr Fu Yuning president of the group and managing director of China Merchants Holdings (International) Co ... »

18 Mar 2008

Elbe dredging boosts Hamburg traffic

Industry players believe that the dredging of Germany's River Elbe is the main reason why the port of Hamburg has handled a record 11.6% more container cargoes in 2007.The year-on-year increase in throughput has been credited to the dredging project ... »

18 Mar 2008

K+N may get involved in bid for Hapag Lloyd

Sources apparently familiar with TUI's shipping business say that a bank-led investor group, which includes a majority owner of Kuehne & Nagel, is mulling a bid to take it over.The source told agencies no offer has been made, adding that Klaus-Mi ... »

News archive



Terms of service  |  Contact
Copyright 2007 © www.shipid.com