• APL alliance unveils new service structure for '98
  Revisions will include nine sailings a week between Asia and US West Coast
• Dubai govt halts dock training for Aussie soldiers
• Soldier on the spot
• Philippine joint venture builds first high speed ferry
• US seeks improved access to China ports

• Carriers delaying aircraft delivery amid cash crunch
  Cathay latest to defer purchase options, may also sell older planes due toregional woes
• American airlines see silver lining in Asian economic cloud
• Tajik plane crashes in Gulf desert
• Saab to stop producing civil aircraft
• Argentina to stall sale of airports until court rules

• Is compromise on salvage issue the best way forward?

• Shanghai plans deep water port
• Korean liner upgrades vessels
• Shantou exports up
• US trade to Hong Kong grows
• Kuantan Port set to reel in business
• Sony appeals for swifter service
• UK exporters probe US Customs link
• DHL to invest in "Year 2000" global compliance
• IAE wins Sichuan contract
• Management blamed for losses

• Polar and USAir invoke Washington's aid
• Researchers lash Schiphol sound measurement
• No agreement on Eurovignette
• Smit Internatonale order for Damen Shipyards
• APL will re-flag three more of its vessels to the US registry

• New three-carrier alliance focuses on Pacific trades
• Containerization group honors two maritime industry leaders
• WPPA award honors three port commissioners
• Coflexip buys vessel for deepwater work
• Union Pacific resumes intermodal service between Chicago and Texas

• LA to build giant container terminal
• Direct calls for Klang
• Low rates hit K Line results
• CMA Malta switch blow for Damietta
• APL widens Asian focus
• Group moves to Philippines
• Med feeder for COSCO
• Global ties cemented
• Yang Ming holds orders
• African line restructures
• HPH opens Burma port
• Pendulums add clout
• Subic worries surface again
• ADSA eyes greater UAE cargo share
• Maersk, PSA join forces at Dalian
• KPM invests in Cambodia
• HHLA in new European port development
• Ring in the changes
• Carriers rethink alliance structure
• New capacity within projected growth
• Vessel orders put on hold

• Sea-Land may quit NY
  SEA-LAND is threatening to pull out of the port of New York and New Jersey in a row over sharp increases in lease payments proposed for its terminal in Elizabeth, port sources claim.
• South Korean yards troubled by weak refund guarantees
  SHIPOWNERS and banks are becoming increasingly nervous about the quality of refund guarantees on newbuilding orders in South Korean shipyards.
• Manning agents seek cover
  PHILIPPINE manning agents are urging their government to require foreign shipping principals to pay a cash or surety bond to cover unpaid salaries and repatriation costs of Filipino crew abandoned by unscrupulous shipping operators.
• Korean crisis worries Australia
  ECONOMISTS see Australia's A$7bn (US$4.7bn) commodity export trade to South Korea being further hit by the country's latest moves to stem its economic crisis despite the newly floated won's recovery yesterday, Reuters reports.
• New site for Maine port plan
  AFTER being forced last year by environmentalist demands to abandon its 15-year dream of a new world class transatlantic containerport, the state of Maine may now instead develop ecologically sensitive Sears Island as a passenger shipping facility.
• Carnival acts on compliance with ISM Code
  CARNIVAL Cruise Lines has taken its first steps towards International Safety Management Code compliance, after leading classification society Lloyd's Register awarded the company a safety management certificate for the Carnival Ecstasy and a document of compliance for shoreside operations.
• Stena's winter drydocking work keeps UK yards busy
  FURTHER stemmings in Stena Line's winter drydocking programme has brought additional work for European shiprepairers.
• Super sludge-eater will clean up in Bahrain
  THE Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (ASRY) has commissioned a new marine sludge treatment plant capable of processing 2 cu m of marine sludge per hour.

• Ivarans seeks partner for liner company
  NORWEGIAN shipping group Ivarans Rederi is seeking one or more strategic partners for its Ivaran Lines subsidiary.
• Umoe to float oil production vessel company
  JENS Ulltveit-Moe, head of the Norwegian shipbuilding and engineering group Ulltveit-Moe, is planning to float a company owning oil production vessels on the stock exchange.
• Mobil and Alireza in Panama bunker plan
  MOBIL Oil Corp and Saudi Arabia's Alireza are planning to turn a Panamanian bunker fuel distribution centre into a hub to supply petroleum to Latin America.
• Massive cocaine haul found in Miami
  US customs officials in Miami have discovered a $23.2m cocaine stash in a vessel that came from Venezuela, authorities announced yesterday.
• Peruvian oil terminals draw just three bids
  THE auction of three operating contracts for Peru's state owned oil terminals drew only three bids, despite initial interest by 14 firms.
• Mærsk España to expand in Algeciras
  MÆRSK España has drawn up plans to spend Ptas5.7bn ($38.2m) to expand its container terminal in Algeciras in southern Spain, port authorities announced today.
• Churchill in major upgrading programme
  THE new owners of the Port of Churchill have embarked on an ambitious programme to upgrade the facility and rail line linking it to the rest of north America.
• Storli sells stake in vessel to CSAV
  NORWEGIAN chemical carrier owner Storli has sold a 50 per cent stake in the 1977-built 28,060 dwt Bow Sun to a subsidiary of Compania Sud Americana des Vapores.
• Agency closed after DSR switch
  OWNERS of Barcelona-based agency Euromed have decided to liquidate the company following the loss of its main client, DSR Senator Lines, last month.
• PLA freezes charges
  PORT of London Authority is freezing its conservancy and pilotage charges at 1997 levels.
• China takes tougher line after hazchem spills
  CHINA is drafting tougher rules to cover shipping on the Yangtze River after toxic chemicals were spilt following two accidents on the country's longest waterway.
• Sri Lanka seeks shipping centre status
  SRI Lanka's new shipping policy envisages the building of new ports, shipping lines and incentives to set up shipbuilding, repair and bunkering facilities.
• Ulstein and Hyundai sign co-operation deals
  ULSTEIN Bergen and Hyundai Heavy Industries have entered into two agreements to build and develop engines
• Haldia ship repair site wins approval
  A Rs500m ($13m) ship-repair complex will be set up at Haldia, Calcutta.
• Indian terminal on stream in early 1999
  THE first phase of India's Nhavasheva International Container Terminal project will be completed and the terminal partly opened by January 1999.
• Taxmen probe Fynwest front company
  AUSTRALIAN tax investigators will examine a Hong Kong company involved in an abortive bid to train stevedores to break the MUA's monopoly.
• Korea crisis hits Australian wool exports
  SOUTH Korea's financial crisis is damaging Australia's wool export industry.

• Global Alliance touchera Anvers avec des PC de 4.000 TEU
  C'est décidé: un des trois services Asie-Europe que va exploiter le groupe Global Alliance, touchera en direct le port d'Anvers dès le début du mois de mars prochain. Ce service hebdomadaire sera assuré par une flotte de huit porte-containers de 3.979 TEU. D'après les informations dont nous disposons, le groupe en question entend diriger ses navires vers l'un des terminaux à containers sur l'Escaut. Un appel d'offres sera lancé très prochainement.
• Daher acquiert le transitaire newyorkais CSG
  Le groupe français de transport et de logistique Daher, dont le siège est à Marseille, a annoncé que sa filiale américaine Daher Golden Eagle (DGE) a procédé à l'acquisition d'une entreprise d'expédition et d'agence en douane à New York. Celle-ci, Columbia Shipping Group (CSG), est active en tant qu'opérateur multimodal sur les relations entre l'Amérique du Nord d'une part et l'Europe et Israël de l'autre.
• Ausa investit un milliard au port de Liège
  Le groupe espagnol Aceros Ugarte Sociedad Anónima (Ausa) s'installe sur l'île Monsin dans le port de Liège. Une entreprise sidérurgique pour la distribution en Europe du Nord et occidentale doit y être opérationnelle au début de l'année prochaine (février/mars). Ausa investit 1 mia. de BEF dans sa nouvelle filiale, tandis que la contribution du port de Liège (et le ministère wallon de l'Aménagement du Territoire, des Travaux publics et des Transports) s'élève à 98,5 mio. de BEF.
• Les autorités d'Ukraine s'inquiétent du sauvetage de Blasco
  Le cabinet du ministre ukrainien du Transport se concerte sur des mesures pour sauver la compagnie maritime Black Sea Shipping Co Blasco. L'armement se trouve dans une position très délicate et ses navires sont régulièrement mis à la chaîne pour être ensuite généralement mis en vente publique.

• NY-NJ offering deep discounts
• Towsley appointed to Miami port slot
• Taiwan notches up throttle for its high-speed rail project
• Can cargo manifests be shielded during probe?
• British held nine ships last month
• Union to protest reflagging of ships
• Shreveport-Bossier will lease 17 acres to N.A. Shipbuilding
• The South Korean carrier's new terminal, Long Beach's largest and the second-largest proprietary terminal in North America, just opened and already the ship line wants more space
• Regional crisis spurs restructuring at Cathay Pacific
• He who hesitates wins in the current malaise of the vessel chartering arena
• Plans to build jets in S. Korea put on hold
• Help for annoyed technophiles: a new slew of how-to books

• Workforce knocks back Patrick changes
  In a decision which is likely to rock the industry, rank and file members of the Maritime Union of Australia employed by Patrick in Melbourne yesterday overwhelmingly rejected the company’s plans for new working arrangements. The new arrangements will be coming into effect anyway, on Monday, sparking fears of a rank and file backlash.
• Crane rates static
  The five port average crane rate was 18.3 containers per hour in the September quarter, the same as the figure for the June quarter, according to the latest Waterline report from the Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics. The report, No. 13, released yesterday shows that crane rates increased at Sydney (18.2 containers per hour) and Adelaide (21.1 containers per hour), however, there were declines at Brisbane (16.1 containers per hour), Melbourne (18.6 containers per hour) and Fremantle (18.8 containers per hour).
• MSC doubles up
  MEDITERRANEAN Shipping Company’s rapidly-expanding Australia-Asia service has moved to weekly frequency with the first sailings from Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane of the chartered MSC Yokohama.
  The 30,249 GRT, 1725 TEU vessel, formerly Hyundai Vancouver, will be followed by the 30,576 DWT, 1928 TEU MSC Xingang (ex Irene’s Legend) and the 19,621 DWT, 1181 TEU MSC Shanghai (ex Heung-A Strait).
• Twist in MPC case
  The Supreme Court case between P&OP and the MPC has taken another twist, with a port consultant claiming the corporation told him to ignore apparently relevant information, supplied by P&OP, in drawing conclusions about requirements for future container terminal capacity.
• NRTC chief sees change ahead
  Departing NRTC chief executive David O’Sullivan sees his successor presiding over a period of major change, despite several years of frustratingly slow progress in road reform.