• Richard Klien (Transroll) prévoit 2 hubs sur la côte Est de l'Amérique du Sud
  Le ministre brésilien des Transport avait récemment déclaré à l'un de nos journalistes que son pays n'avait pas l'intention de créer des super-ports pour PC géants, que ce serait le marché qui dicterait la voie à suivre. Il y a de fortes raisons de croire que les intentions dudit marché commencent à se préciser, si l'on en croit les propos qu'a tenus Richard Klien, vice-président de l'armerment privé brésilien Transroll, lors d'une des sessions de la conférence "Intermodal 97" qui s'est tenue ces jours-ci à Hambourg.
• Holyman va restructurer ses services européens de ferries
  Holyman Ltd, la maison-mère de Holyman Sally, a annoncé qu'elle revoyait l'organisation de ses services de ferries. Selon l'agence Reuters, la société australienne est à un stade avancé de négociations avec "une autre société" en vue d'une collaboration sur la route Ostende-Ramsgate. Du point de vue opérationnel, il n'y aurait pas beaucoup de changements. Les intérêts de Holyman dans Condor Ferries, entre le Royaume-Uni, les îles de la Manche et la France font également l'objet d'une révision.
• Intexo met l'accent sur la logistique européenne
  Le logo "Van Ommeren" disparaîtra dans les services d'Intexo à partir du 1er janvier prochain. C'est un pas dans la direction de l'autonomisation de la distribution du groupe Van Ommeren, qui a commencé il y a deux ans par la vente de 51% de ses actions. Intexo Belgium mettra en service dans le même temps un nouveau magasin à Malines, ce qui augmente sa capacité à 40.000 europalettes.
• Vers une interdiction des poids lourds la nuit sur le Brenner?
  Le ministre autrichien des Transports Caspar Einem envisage "très sérieusement" d'interdire la circulation de nuit des poids lourds sur l'autoroute du Brenner. Cette interdiction répondrait à la demande du parlement provincial du Tirol.

• NYK takes delivery of 5,700-TEU containership
• Chinese railways improved
• Subic Port suffers hitches in privatisation plans
• Profit slumps for Union Pacific
• Australia and Indonesia agree cross-border trade scheme
• Foreign shippers blast Taiwan's cross-strait policy
• Singapore minister calls for 'open skies' in Asia
• Boeing hits production troubles
• Cathay upgrades communications
• Egyptair orders Airbus A340-600 planes
• Allied Signals opens China base

• Heineken gives inland shipping a chance
• Shippers demand inland-shipping and rail liberalization
• Work interruptions in Rotterdam
• German Nedlloyd takeover

• Haji-Ioannous cleared in 'Haven' blast case
  A GENOA court yesterday declared shipowners Loucas Haji-Ioannou and his son Stelios innocent of any crime related to the fatal explosion of the Cypriot-flagged VLCC Haven in the Italian harbour on April 11, 1991.
• Unions disappointed at acquittal in Italy
  SEAFARER unions expressed disappointment with the outcome of the Haven case.
• Delaware River ports boost
  ORGANISED labour has claimed that its year-old contract with the Delaware River ports of Philadelphia, Camden and Wilmington has generated for the first time in a decade "significant growth" in both hours worked and forecasted throughput at the facilities.
• ABP's new '2m Humber traffic centre is opened
  ASSOCIATED British Ports managing director Andrew Smith has officially opened the Humber Estuary's new '2.1m ($3.5m) vessel traffic services centre at Spurn Point.
• Helmepa guides Greek vessels on US port calls
  IN a new effort to reduce problems during port calls in the US, some 500 Greek-owned vessels have been issued with a freshly produced manual by the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (Helmepa).
• Law of the Sea faces first tribunal case
  THE International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg is facing its first case, more than a year after its inauguration, although its building will not be completed until 1999.
• Cagliari advertises its hub potential
  A BRAND new hub port in the Mediterranean expects to handle its first ship before the end of the year.
• Gothenburg posts 13% rise in throughput
  CARGO throughput at Scandinavia's busiest port, Gothenburg, was 13% higher between January and September this year compared to 1996, writes Nick Wade, Oslo.

• Judge allows Blasco sale to proceed
  THE London Admiralty judge today confirmed the sale of Black Sea Shipping Co (Blasco) vessel Guiseppe di Vittorio, owned by the Ukraine government.
• Meyer close to taking over Neptun yard
  MEYER Werft is close to acquiring the east German shiprepair facility Neptun Industrie Rostock.
• DSR acquires cruise charterer Seetours
  DSR, the German shipping group, has bought Seetours International, a holiday company that organises cruises and is a major charterer of DSR's and other cruiseships.
• Fronape to become independent
  THE shipping arm of Brazilian state-owned energy company Petrobras is to become an independent company on January 15.
• Union buys ship, hotel to upgrade training
  AMOSUP, the Philippines seafarers' union, has acquired a training ship and a former hotel to raise training standards under the revised STCW and become included in the IMO White List of complying states.
• Navieras NPR merges with Holt
  NAVIERAS NPR, the Puerto Rico-based owner and operator, has concluded its merger with Holt, the Philadelphia stevedore and terminal company.
• Royal Olympic orders two fast cruise ships
  ROYAL Olympic Cruises, the Greek passenger ship operator, has been confirmed as the buyer of two fast cruiseships to be built at Blohm + Voss in Hamburg.
• Boluda confirms Pinillos negotiations
  SPAIN'S Boluda group has confirmed to Fairplay that the Valencia-based company is negotiating the acquisition of financially-troubled owner Naviera Pinillos.
• Dutch owners told to treat staff better
  DUTCH shipowners have been warned that there will be no solution to the shortage of officers unless they change the way they treat sea-going staff.
• Bulk carrier damages grain elevator
  LOADING operations at United Grain Corp elevator at Vancouver port in Washington have been halted after a bulk carrier collided with the elevator's dock.
• HMM aims to be No 1 car carrier
  HYUNDAI Merchant Marine is to expand its fleet of pure car carriers to 80 vessels by 2005 making it the largest operator.
• Bergesen ponders Igloo Gas offer
  NORWEGIAN bulk shipping group Bergesen has been approached by a potential buyer for its stake in the 16-ship Igloo Gas pool.
• Korea launches Pusan port project
  THE Korean government has broken ground on its massive project to build a major container port on Kadok island within the port of Pusan.
• Silja restructures Baltic operations
  SILJA, the Finnish cruise ferry owner, is to split its Baltic operations into separate passenger service, cargo shipping and ship management companies.
• Shareholders file lawsuit against Union Pacific
  ANGRY shareholders have filed a class-action lawsuit against the Union Pacific, after the company's share price fell from $72.44 in mid-July to $58.18 this week.
• Canadian shippers denounce freight increases
  THE Canadian Shippers Council has denounced freight increases proposed by the Canada UK/Continental Freight Conference.
• Brazil to meet MarAd over second register
  BRAZILIAN authorities are to meet MarAd officials in Washington next month to discuss disagreements concerning Brazil's second register.
• India does U-turn on port ownership
  INDIA'S government has announced a U-turn on its decision to operate Jawaharlal Nehru and Ennore ports as public limited companies.

• Rail freight users balk at Chunnel tolls
• Airline alliances face strict EU limits
• California farmers pick other crops over cotton
• Ship safety snags Cyprus' bid
• American Airlines buying 10% of Aerolineas
• Turkish Airlines launches expansion
• Belgium's CMB buys France's CNN
• Oil spill captain fails in bid to leave Singapore
• Railroad link between Chunnel and London faces possible delay
• Ship standards won't ruffle US commerce
• STB outlines rules for hearing
• Ship losses decline, but human cost climbs
• Insurers: We're not cops

• Sydney on the up and up
  Sydney ports enjoyed healthy trade and financial growth over the past year according the Sydney Ports Corporation's annual report released on Friday. The Corporation recorded a strong financial performance with revenue increasing by 4.8 per cent on the 1995/96 result, attributing the rise to strong shipping activity. Ship visits for the year were up five per cent on the previous12 months.
• Forget returns, focus on costs, MPC told
  Stevedore Patrick has used the occasion of the 1997 VECCI Port Day to launch a new attack on the Melbourne Port Corporation, noting that according to its recent annual report the MPC made a profit of $39 on every container handled - a return the stevedore could only dream of. Meanwhile, cost of operating in the port keep rising, Patrick claimed.
• Stevedoring award holds back waterfront
  Patrick also told Port Day attendees the difficulty of achieving meaningful waterfront change was magnified by an award system and labour culture which dragged out the negotiating process at the same time as over-rewarding waterside workers, especially in comparison with general employment standards.
• ITF's Asia-Pacific campaign gets underway
  The International Transport Workers' Federation's (ITF) campaign in the Asia/Pacific rim against flag of convenience (FOC) ships got off to a flying start in Australia with US$100,000 in backpay collected for the Indonesian crew of a Panamanian flagged bulk carrier. The figure represents the partial settlement of a US$348,000 claim involving 11 Korean owned ships.
• Govt downplays meeting expectations
  The future of Australia's shipping and waterfront industry will be discussed at a meeting in Canberra this evening between the Federal Minister for Workplace Relations, Peter Reith and representatives of maritime unions as well as the Australian Council of Trade Unions. A spokesman for Mr Reith told DCN the Minister expected the unions to provide some response on issues which were raised at an earlier meeting between the parties. Union expectations that the government might provide its response to the recommendations of the Shipping Reform Group have been denied.