• Pirate attacks down but violence has increased
  Number of incidents dropped 16%, death toll jumped 73% in first 9 months
• Panama Canal may restrict drafts due to El Nino effect
• Malaysia to sign cooperation deal with Slovenia port
• Parts of Los Angeles economy feeling pinch of port gridlock

• Air New Zealand, Ansett keen to join Star Alliance
  Carriers hope to join 6-member group early next year, says Air NZ general manager
• France seeks quick end to strike
• Hyundai to retrench 5,000 workers in next 3 years
• MAS inbound passenger traffic down due to haze
• Airbus soars past Boeing in sales with US Airways' bumper order
• New HK airport aims to open in April, even without railway

• Race to set up LNG terminals
  Businesses are keen to set up terminals and transport LNG to India in vessels to meet projected high demand

• Hamburg port official believes customer choice is paramount

• Succès des premiers barrages
• L'Afrique de l'Ouest bientôt "libre" de conférences?
• Les investissements dans le port d'Anvers ont augmenté de 18% en 1996
• ALZ participe dans deux centres de distribution sidérurgique

• US Senate approves reforms
• Danish and Singaporean co-operation in China
• Trade growth provides more insurance opportunities
• Japan trade draws more ships
• Reforms required to stop stagnation of French ports
• Four Qantas freight flights to LA
• New jet for Garuda Indonesia
• Demands for more Asian flights to Miami

• Main roads largely open; blockades alternate
• High profit KLM
• Sale of tanker fleet interest
• Legal action against France
• Pressure on France grows
• Transport between UK and the European Continent delayed considerably
• Channel Tunnel briefly occupied
• More sympathy with French trucker demands
• Insurer does not want to pay for blockades
• Violence during blockades

• Container leasing firm posts income shortfall
• Feds told to get road cash moving
• Public-private group pushes education for transportation
• TIACA confab scheduled for London in December
• Amtrak and union avoid stopping intercity service
• Air New Zealand sets world record with Boeing 767 on first flight home

• India plans $365m mega hub
  INDIA'S Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is to implement an ambitious expansion plan to establish it as the main hub in the region. Some Rs13.22bn ($365m) is to be made available before 2012 by private entrepreneurs on a 30-year build-operate-trans-fer principle.
• A&P Group sale looks imminent
  SPECULATION was mounting last night that there is to be a change in the ownership of the A&P Group, the UK's largest shiprepair company.
• Interpool earnings fall
  LEADING intermodal dry cargo container lessor Interpool has reported third-quarter income before extraordinary and non-recurring charges of $7.92m ($0.28 per share), nearly 20% less than the 1996 quarter's $9.88m (0.31 per share), despite a 9% rise in revenues to $40.96m from the year earlier's $37.48m.
• Results boost for Actinor
  NORWAY'S Actinor Shipping is heading for a healthy increase in full-year profits. writes Tony Gray.
• Europe/Asia trade pays the price
  POOR financial results of liner shipping companies in the Europe/Asia container trades are a result of unsophisticated pricing, claims Jim Poon, chairman and managing director of OOCL (Europe).
• EU leaders in shipping 'workshop'
  EUROPEAN shipowners, government representatives, European Commission officials, and shippers will be gathering in Luxembourg next week to consider how best to handle shipping issues with non-EU countries, writes Janet Porter.
• Only two bids for Subic Bay container port
  ONLY two firms have submitted formal bids for the controversial Subic Bay Container Terminal Project amid fears of an economic slowdown and a pending court case against Subic Bay authorities.
• Malaysia to build four tankers
  MALAYSIA Shipyard and Engineering is to build four oil tankers which will be time chartered by the Indonesian state firm Pertamina, writes Gurdip Singh, Singapore.

• Tanker owners fight Rotterdam port charges
  DUTCH shipping agents have started legal action on behalf of tanker owners to force Gemeentelijk Havenbedrijf Rotterdam to reduce port charges for tankers.
• Multiterminais to develop Rio container port
  MULTITERMINAIS Alfandegados do Brasil, one of Brazil's leading terminal, transport and logistics operators, has announced plans to develop a $50m container port in Rio de Janeiro.
• New port authority to boost Shanghai
  THE recently set-up Shanghai Joint Port Authority aims to make Shanghai an international shipping centre within 20 to 30 years using a three-stage plan.
• French strike tightens grip
  HUNDREDS of truck drivers are facing a ten hour wait for a ferry from the UK to the Continent as the French drivers' strike tightens its grip.
• Venezuela ferry off the blocks
  A FERRY service between Venezuela and its neighbouring islands of Aruba and Curacao has started after a hiatus of more than a decade.
• La Guaira privatisation kicks off
  THE long-awaited privatisation of Venezuela's port of La Guaira has kicked off with Monday's official publication of notices to all interested investors to register for the process.
• Chinese yards to merge
  CHINA State Shipbuilding Corp plans to merge its yards in Liaoning province.
• Sumitomo Heavy Industries profit swells
  JAPANESE shipbuilder Sumitomo Heavy Industries saw its operating profit jump 150 per cent to ¥6.3bn ($52.5m) in the six months ended September.
• Margins squeezed at Mitsubishi
  JAPAN'S Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said lower margins were the cause of a pre-tax profit fall of 17 per cent to ¥74.3bn ($614m) in the six months ended September.
• Action urged on Brazil register
  TRANSROLL Navegação is urging the Brazilian government to take measures to ensure that the country's second register is competitive.
• Aker hit by extraordinary item
  AKER Maritime, the publicly-listed Norwegian shipbuilding and offshore industries group controlled by Aker RGI, has reported a seven per cent fall in operating profit.
• Sovikens Verft wins $20m supply ship order
  SOVIKENS Verft, part of the Norwegian shipbuilding and offshore group Aker Maritime, has won an order for a UT755 type supply ship from Portsalvo of London.
• Canadian ports move on policing
  THE ports of Halifax and Montreal have arranged for alternate policing of their facilities in response to the Canadian government's plan to wind up the Ports Canada Police.

• Shippers slow to sign Atlantic contract terms
• BA pretax profits feel impact of strike
• Negotiations resume in French trucker dispute
• Massachusetts extols plan for Conrail
• Air carriers make more cargo links on Internet
• Consortium announces fixed service
• Pull pier permits, 'green' groups urge Mexico ministries
• Defense to pull its irons out of UP's fire
• Ship compromise yields uncertainty
• Subsidy bill may not clear Senate
• NY, NJ officials challenge carve-up
• Dockside cranes coming to Santos
• Newsgroups providing a valuable, source of advice from experts
• Ducking union contact may be possible, but is hardly a sound business strategy

• New report debunks MUA 'denial', says Reith
  Workplace Relations minister Peter Reith is using a new report, prepared by South Australian academic Dr Judith Sloane, to back his claim the MUA remains 'in denial' over the level of industrial disputation on the waterfront.
• NRTC backs increase in mass limits
  In its 'barebones' recommendations to next week's Australian Transport Council meeting of state and federal ministers the NRTC has recommended increased mass limits for the road transport industry, a national bridge improvement program and harsh penalties for overloading.
• Westrail now on the block?
  A Westrail-commissioned study has found there is merit in considering privatisation of the state government-owned rail system. Acting Westerail commissioner Wayne James revealed the findings at yesterday's opening sessions of the AustRAIL 97 conference in Melbourne.
• ABS all-clear for NOL Amber
  The containership NOL Amber has received the all-clear from classification society ABS following her weekend grounding in Torres Strait, and is continuing her Australian voyage in the AAX service.
• Fall in PSCs follows AQIS cuts
  Southbound conference lines will cut port service charges in Australian ports following reductions in AQIS container inspection fees - but will impose a $1/box administration fee, in line with forwarders and other industry service providers.
• CASA overhaul dominates conference
  Former federal transport minister John Sharp has stressed the need for further reforms at the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. Mr Sharp delivered an introductory address last night at the "Safe Skies" conference, which is expected to be dominated by CASA issues.