• Bilspedition et Schenker-Rhenus vont fusionner
• La Flandre zélandaise entend se positionner sur le marché intermodal
• Le commerce maritime "à l'aube d'une nouvelle période d'expansion"
• Rotterdam: les Pétroliers veulent récupérer 100 mio. de NLG

• Mitsui and P&O Nedlloyd upgrade services
• Fujian Province upgrades ports
• PAT decides to replace Songkhla operator
• Wan Hai and APL start joint Asian service
• Java Super expands its course
• Shipping is vital to Hong Kong's prosperity, says Chinese premier
• Demand forces Bayan Lepas airport to expand
• Korea and Portugal still missing links
• First Next-Generation operator on mainland

• Bilspedition and Schenker form largest European transport group
• Enormous claim hangs over Rotterdam
• Geest innovates with 45 ft boxes
• KLM's top executive wants Marshall Plan
• 300 Amsterdam harbor pool workers sacked

• CPR at work on Calgary terminal
• Lauritzen reefer ship calls new Everett berth
• Evergreen sees first two ships at Panama container terminal
• Union Pacific Railroad sponsors national tank car safety course
• Nations railroad freight traffic near even with last year results
• APL adds Indonesia loop to intra-Asia service link

• Samsung in four-ship BP deal
  SOUTH Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries has landed a deal involving US investment firms and a UK bank for the construction of four VLCCs to be operated by BP Shipping at a total price thought to be in the region of $360m.
• O'Neil sets agenda for IMO action in 1998
  SHIPPING'S role in the global economy will be the focus of International Maritime Organisation activity next year as the organisation celebrates its 50th anniversary, secretary-general William O'Neil told its assembly as it opened its 20th session in London yesterday.
• Kvaerner records 6% profits boost
  IMPROVED performances from shipbuilding and the Cunard cruise business helped Kvaerner to a 6% increase in nine-month pre-tax profit.
• US warns on ISM short cuts
  A RANKING system of International Safety Management Code responsible parties may be established by the US in an effort to stamp out 'quickie' or sub-standard certification.
• Imbituba squares up to Rio Grande
  A BATTLE is developing over the future of freight handling to and from the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.
• TNX and Grupo Libra extend trips
  THE new container service between the east coast of South America and the east coast of the US operated by Transroll Navieras Express (TNX) and Grupo Libra will be operating with a fixed-day weekly frequency before the end of this month, writes Robert Ward.
• Los Angeles/Long Beach box logjam begins to ease
  GRIDLOCK that has clogged docks at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach seems to be easing off. The cargo jam has been frustrating shippers and carriers for weeks, and causing the delivery of goods to be delayed by weeks in some cases.
• Dragonix faces union pressure
  UNIONS are considering taking action against a third tanker in the six vessel fleet of Dragonix Shipping following the arrest of two ships in Singapore, Reuters reports.

• BP confirms vlcc order
  A CONTRACT has been signed for four 301,440 dwt vlccs at South Korea's Samsung shipyard for bareboat charter to BP.
• Pearl River channel to be deepened
  CHINA Merchants Holdings is considering dredging the Tonggu Waterway west of Hong Kong's Lantau island to give ships of up to 100,000 dwt direct access to the Pearl River Delta.
• Singapore box throughput to hit 14m teu
  CONTAINER throughput at Singapore over the first nine months has put the port on target to handle 14m in the full year.
• Malaysia to encourage foreign companies
  MALAYSIA is planning to allow foreign shipping companies to set up shipowning subsid-iaries.
• Businessmen seek return of confiscated goods
  FORTY Hong Kong businessmen went to Guangdong today to negotiate the return of goods confiscated by China's public security officers.
• Court reserves judgment on Blasco vessel sale
  LONDON Admiralty Court has reserved judgment on the validity of a sale order on Blasco's vessel Giuseppe di Vittorio, currently detained at Newport, UK.
• Kværner assesses progress payment options
  KVÆRNER wants to switch to progress payment in shipbuilding in order to reduce the need for working capital.
• Mercedes switches exports to Genoa
  MERCEDES is to switch the main export gate for its cars from German ports to Genoa's Voltri terminal.
• Hamburg and Bremen in port merger talks
  ORTWIN Runde, the newly elected mayor of Hamburg, has opened talks with the mayor of Bremen, Henning Scherf, about closer co-operation between the two cities' ports.
• Montevideo container terminal bid on hold
  THE long-awaited privatisation of Montevideo's sole container terminal has suffered a further delay after two rejected bidders have brought an official complaint.
• Ceuta signs cruise operators
  FIVE cruise operators will make cruise stopovers at the North African Spanish port of Ceuta next year.
• MUA threatens foreign crews ban
  FOREIGN vessels trading between Australia and New Zealand may be blacked by the MUA if BHP withdraws one of its vessels from the route.
• Eidsiva granted right to use Rodby Havn
  NORWEGIAN shipping group Eidsiva has received permission from the Danish port of Rodby to use its facilities for a ferry operation.
• Finnlines buys Poseidon Schiffahrt
  FINNLINES, the Finnish liner shipping company, has acquired the German freight roro owner Poseidon Schiffahrt from Stinnes, part of the chemicals giant Veba.
• Neptunia buys containership from Croatian Line
  BRAZILIAN shipowner Neptunia has agreed to buy a 1,000 teu containership from troubled Croatian Line after initially entering into a 12 month time charter agreement to operate the ship.
• Buquebus receives world's fastest ship in BA
  THE world's fastest ferry has arrived in its home port of Buenos Aires via Cabo Verde, Recife and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, to enter the growing Buquebus fleet.

• West Coast to join in global ship boycott
• Top DOT official 'hopeful' about border opening
• US firm may buy EU rail link
• US-Japan talks fail to yield aviation pact
• Celadon: Mexico business successful
• JFK breaks ground for $1.2 billion terminal
• Overseas Shipholding plans to sell 10 vessels
• British Airways to launch a no-frills carrier in '98
• Transport stock losses drive index down
• Shipowners upbeat on pending deadline for ISM compliance
• Boston dockers return to work
• Manila berth shelved
• Maritime calendar
• S. Korea plugging for Port of Pusan