• APL starts reliable India service at Nhava Sheva
  Benefits include reserved berthing at the modern port and intermodal links
• Cargo throughput up 5.2% at Rotterdam port
• KL to study delayed reaction to oil spill

• Alitalia eyes SIA for tie-up but link seen limited
  Analysts say existing alliances may hamper scope of such an alliance
• Israeli airline to launch a pilgrimage express
• Toyota to shut down one Thai plant, says report
• FAA to reduce alcohol testing amid low violation rate
• Asian assemblers dumping luxury cars in Hongkong

• '98 need not be all that bad for Asia's shiprepair industry

• Cho Yang denies cash rumours
• Bakke Shipping replaces Knutsen Line
• JEFC brings in trade-share deal
• Cargo volume falls at Malaysian ports
• Tanjung Priok aims for ISO 9002
• Oman terminal gets cash boost
• CGM and Marfret renew co-operation
• Taiwanese cargo carriers lacks faith in APROC scheme
• Swissair buys Air One stake
• Boeing jobs to disappear
• ICTS sells share in HK affiliate

• Kosterman makes mark during dozen years at Port Vancouver
• APL taps Nhava Sheva terminal for new India container service
• Railroads deliver modest gains in weekly freight traffic numbers
• New Coast guard rule allows outside reports
• UPS holds international rate while bumping costs at home

• Bank takes major stake in A&P
  ROYAL Bank Development Capital, the development capital subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland, has acquired a major shareholding in the UK's leading shiprepair company, A&P Group.
• Gales force European port closures
  PORTS around the UK and on the continent were forced to stop working yesterday as gales battered much of Europe. But the Coastguard reported few incidents at sea, with many ships either remaining in port or finding shelter until the storms passed.
• Stevedores persevere amid quirky Australia port politics
  PORT operations have become one of the great investibles of the 1990s. Even 10 years ago, multilateral soft lending institutions such as the World Bank were a major source of funds for port expansion in developing countries. Now the bank does very little new lending to ports, except as a minor partner with private investors such as Sydney-based P&O Ports, which has picked up the load instead - just as the bank had predicted and hoped that they would.
• Marti Shipping rescue package outlined to creditors
  TROUBLED Turkish capesize operator Marti Shipping is offering unsecured creditors 10% of money owed and a share of future trading profits in the hope of surviving financial difficulties which have seen the arrest of a number of its ships.
• A&P growth earns leading player status
  REPAIR industry players and watchers will not be surprised by the news that A&P Group is to have new backers. The industry has seen the company grow over the past three years to a position in which it is now one of the leading shiprepair companies in northern Europe.
• Navix/Fesco launch rail service
  JAPAN'S Navix Line and Russia's Far East Shipping Co (Fesco), which currently operate a joint container shipping service linking ports in Japan with Vostochnyy, have launched a railway service linking Vostochnyy with destinations in Russia.
• Some problems never seem to go away
  AS THE fireworks went off with a big bang in the midnight sky on the last day of December, I reflected on the ancient custom underlying this noisy annual ritual. It is based on the belief that the bad ghosts from the old year will be too frightened to follow us into the new year so that we may enter it with a clean slate and full of good intentions.
• EU moves a step closer on anti-trust immunity
  THE possibility of extending anti-trust immunity in Europe to include both ocean shipping and other modes of transport has been raised by a group of experts studying the provision of multimodal services.

• Wednesday deadline for award response
  Waterfront employers have given unions until Wednesday to respond to their proposed simplification of the Stevedoring Industry Award as well as related awards. The 7 January deadline replaces the 31 December deadline which was seen as being impractical. The employers pressing the simplification involve Patricks, P&O Ports, Brambles, BHP Transport and Union Shipping.
• ANL sale options under review
  Government and bureaucrats in Canberra have yet to decide on the best possible method of disposing of ANL - as a single unit, or broken into its three remaining constituent units. But informed sources believe one scenario gaining favour is the corralling of the liner trades from the rest.
• AMSA’s Paul McGrath retires
  AMSA chief executive Paul McGrath retired on New Years Eve, having overseen what he believes was a transformation from a ‘rather dour’ government department into one of the world’s most widely-respected maritime administrations.
• Adsteam picks up Burns Philp
  Adsteam Marine has entered into an agreement to purchase Burns Philp Shipping Agency, one of the largest and most established shipping agents in the Asia Pacific region. BPSA operates in six countries with direct representation in 45 different locations in the region, and will provide Adsteam Marine with its first presence in Hong Kong, China and India.