• Growing fleet of box ships may mar earnings: report
  It notes orderbook grew from 20% in 1993 to 35% of the global fleet in March this year
• Taca opts for stability, drops plan to lift rates
• China's ship scrapping industry loses market share
• ECT plans to build new container terminal in Duisburg
• Italy urges Turkey to act after rescue of illegal immigrants
• Suez Canal to leave rates alone

• Killer turbulence hits Japan-US flight, one dead
  United Airlines' Boeing 747 dives 300 metres at 33,000 ft
• EVA Air to launch cargo service to Chicago
• KLM sees possible future merger with Alitalia
• GE discussing lease-back deal with British Airways
• ATMs in air may pose security threat to flights

• Full steam ahead for ferries
  Despite the powerful competition from the Chunnel, ro-ro traffic between Rotterdam and England is on the rise

• Samudera prepares service expansion plans
• Indian port may develop container facilities
• Maersk to add calls to Egypt
• K Line modifies its Japan/Bangkok liner service
• Shanghai starts work on ocean shipping centre
• Japanese EDI project receives little response
• Egyptair promotes exports
• South Korean airlines forced to cut flights
• Air France profits leap

• Japanese subsidiary expands in Rotterdam
• Russian ship owners to the Netherlands
• Inland shipping must co-operate more with road haulage
• Inland shipping's freight distribution does not work
• 'Turnpike Across the Sea' has future

• Steady box traffic predicted on Asia/Europe trade for 1998
• New president for P&O Nedlloyd Japan
• Japan, China to meet in Beijing on forwarding issues

• Cho Yang hits at talk of collapse
  SOUTH Korea's Cho Yang Shipping has hit back at rumours that it has collapsed.
• Intertanko in Tokyo Bay traffic plan call
  INDEPENDENT tanker owners' organisation Intertanko is pressing for improvements to traffic separation in the Tokyo Bay area.
• Numast urges action to end pilotage 'confusion'
  PILOTS are increasingly subject to commercial pressures and often confused about their legal and operational responsibilities, according to a survey produced by UK officers' union Numast.
• P&O defends Indian port project plan
  A REPORT by the Press Trust of India that the Maharashtra state government and P&O Ports Australia are going ahead with plans to build a multi-berth private port at Vadhavan, in defiance of a Supreme Court directive, has been denied by Jimmy Sarbh, head of the Indian arm of P&O Ports.
• San Francisco eyes ferries to beat crush
  FACING the possibility of future highway gridlock, along with the ever-present threat of earthquake disruption, the San Francisco Bay Area has formed a blue-ribbon task force to study ways to expand ferry transit to the eight counties that border the bay.
• Portland sets monthly record
  CONTAINER-on-barge lifts at the Port of Portland's Terminal 6 set a new monthly record in October, with 4,133 boxes being transferred to containerships for internat-ional distribution.
• Chile needs $1.4bn to improve ports
  CHILE's state holding company for ports, Empresa Portuaria de Chile (Emporchi), says it will be necessary to spend some $1.4bn on improving port infrastructure between now and 2015.
• NCL forced to cancel 'Norwegian Star' cruise
  NORWEGIAN Cruise Line (NCL) has been forced to cancel a seven-day Caribbean cruise from Houston this week to repair the mechanical problems which plagued the Norwegian Star last week.

• Le Havre à la recherche de nouveaux terminaux
  Comme tous les grands ports à containers de la rangée du Nord, Le Havre entend réaliser son projet "Port 2000", qui consiste à s'équiper de nouvelles capacités pour la desserte des nouvelles générations de PC de 4.000 à 7.000 TEU et plus. Bremerhaven vient d'augmenter sa capacité. Hambourg s'apprête à réaliser un grand terminal. Anvers prépare une darse à marée où sera implanté un 3e terminal à containers. Rotterdam prépare une seconde Maasvlakte. Tous ces projets sont d'ailleurs conçus dans le but de faire face à la forte croissance que connaît la containérisation. Or, Le Havre, dont les terminaux actuels sont proches de la saturation, affichent la plus forte croissance des ports de la rangée du Nord en matière de trafics containérisés.
• Fret SNCF prévoit une activité stable en 1998
  A la tête de Fret SNCF, pôle marchandises des chemins de fer français, Armand Toubol est toujours prudent lorsqu'il évoque l'avenir. C'est sans doute pourquoi il déclare: "Pour 1998, nous misons sur une activité stabilisée plutôt que sur une expansion". Cette prudence tranche avec les bons résultats de 1997.
• Blohm & Voss développe un nouveau ro-ro super-rapide
  Lors de la conférence technologique des länder de l'Allemagne du nord qui a eu lieu à Hambourg, Blohm & Voss a présenté un nouveau projet pour une unité ro-ro super-rapide. Le navire aurait une capacité de 1.360 m (plus ou moins 97 semi-remorques de 30 t). Le monocoque fait 144 m de long et 25 m de large. Il peut atteindre une vitesse de croisière de 28,7 noeuds. Selon U. Malchow du chantier allemand, il a été conçu spécialement pour les trajets européens en prolongement (ou en remplacementa) au transport routier. Sa consommation serait de 20% inférieure à celle des navires conventionnels. Il ne s'agit pas d'un navire très sophistiqué, ceux-ci étant souvent assez vulnérables. Le navire a été conçu sur base de navires à grande vitesse existants. Un nombre d'armateurs s'étant déjà montrés très intéressés, le chantier naval s'attend d'ici peu aux premières commandes.
• Zeebrugge: trafic portuaire en hausse de 14%
  Le trafic portuaire à Zeebrugge a augmenté de 4 mio. de tonnes jusqu'à 32,5 mio. de tonnes en 1997. Il s'agit d'une hausse de 14% par rapport à 1996. Les containers (+21%) et les vracs secs (+22,6%) ont noté la croissance la plus spectaculaire. Les diverses conventionnelles ont par contre régressé de 32,7% jusqu'à 800.000 tonnes.

• World air cargo seen growing 7.5% a year to 2001
• Shippers, analysts shrug off freight rate increase forecast
• Hutchinson International has initiated plans to acquire MTS (Holdings) Ltd. and talks are under way to buy a stake in a Bremerhaven facility
• Fund-raising drive aims to save ship
• Alliance yields funds for Erie Canal area
• Coal train delays beginning to clear up
• Stocks yield many (un)happy returns
• Philippine company to take over Saudi's Abdul Azis terminal
• Transportation calendar
• Shipyards less than shipshape

• Draft new award: Heartburn for MUA
  A new draft award for the stevedoring industry is to be considered by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission early in the new year. This follows a move by the country’s major as well as smaller stevedores to simplify the stevedoring award in line with federal legislation. Copies of the draft have now been sent to the Commission as well as the Maritime Union of Australia which is known to be unhappy with some of the proposals.
• Still room for Sharp’s return?
  With the path ostensibly cleared for his return to the Coalition front bench it may be timely to cogitate over whether the industry would support or oppose John Sharp’s resurrection as the minister responsible for shipping and waterfront reform.
• P&O buys Qantas resorts
  P&O Australia Ltd has signed a contract for the purchase of three Queensland resort properties from Qantas for the price of $25 million. The purchase will give P&O Australia ownership of the 148 unit Dunk Island Resort and the exclusive 16 villa Bedarra Island Retreat, both located off Cairns as well as the 108 unit Brampton Island Resort, situated south of the Whitsunday passage.
• Maynes will appeal Ipec decision
  Mayne Nickless has confirmed it will appeal a Supreme Court decision ordering the company to re-employ some 30 of 40 sacked IPEC owner-drivers - and has revealed it is undertaking a "management review" of Mayne Nickless Express in the light of business lost following last week’s 40-hour strike.