Deutsche Post bids for Danzas EXPANSIONARY German post office organisation Deutsche Post took a step towards becoming a European freight transport giant yesterday when it made a SFr1.46bn ($1.1bn) bid to acquire Swiss freight forwarder Danzas.
Roussel sentenced to jail A decade after the death of shipping heiress Christina Onassis, her last husband, Thierry Roussel, has been convicted by an Athens court of perjury and malicious defamation in his long-running feud with the directors of the Onassis Foundation.
Heavy weather ahead for Golden Ocean as losses grow Fred Cheng's Golden Ocean Group, which currently has more VLCCs on order than any other shipping company, is expecting further heavy losses in 1999 before moving into profit the following year.
Cover limits raised ahead of renewal Two fixed premium insurers are increasing the limit of cover they provide ahead of the February 20, 1999 P&I renewal.
Montevideo port scandal hits Uruguay "What is our company's name doing in the midst of such a scandal?" Maersk group executives have been asking partner Christopherson in Montevideo, according to local reports.
Sea-Land charters two newbuildings Sea-Land has chartered two 1,100 teu newbuildings from Thien & Heyenga of Hamburg. The Stadt Berlin, to be renamed the Sea-Land Mexico, is to be delivered by Cuxhaven-based Mützelfeldtwerft on December 18 while her sister the Stadt D'sseldorf, built at Santierul Naval Constantza, will be delivered on December 21 and renamed Sea-Land Guatemala.
Primorsk unit in Singapore deal Sinchart Shipping, a major Russian tanker operator, is beefing up its Singapore presence as part of plans to increase its business in southeast and east Asia.
IMO plans to protect whales Whales are to be protected from the risk of being killed by ships through an innovative initiative approved this week by the International Maritime Organisation.
Commission probes French aid THE EC last week decided to open an investigation into French aid to the publicly-owned Brittany Ferries and Corsica Maritime.
EC rules against Irish aid scheme THE EC has ruled against an Irish scheme of state aid to shipping, on the grounds that it provides inadequate guarantees for EU jobs.
SCI looks for lng partner THE Shipping Corporation of India is on the look out for a foreign partner to transport liquified natural gas from the terminal currently under development at Pipavav port in Gujarat state.
Maltese ships cost double their value THE Malta Shipbuilding Company has accumulated a loss of M'121m ($321m) since it was set up in 1984.
OECD announces action plan THE OECD's Maritime Transport Committee has announced its backing of an action plan aimed at marginalising substandard shipping.
EC fines Adriatic ferry cartel THE EC has imposed fines totalling Ecu 9.1m ($11m) on seven ferry companies for "colluding to fix prices" on roro services between Greece and Italy.
Silja Line to sell Swedish stake SILJA Line, part of the Finnish ferry group Neptun Maritime, will sell its 40 per cent stake in the Destination Gotland ferry joint venture to Rederi AB Gotland.
Slum dwellers hold up port development SLUM dwellers in the Batangas port complex have hampered efforts of the Philippine Ports Authority to proceed with the second phase of its port development project.
New cruise terminal for Marseilles MARSEILLES is to build a cruise terminal to cater for major growth it is experiencing in the passenger sector.
Asian downturn an opportunity, says club boss ASIA'S economic downturn provides P&I mutuals with a good opportunity to strengthen their positions, according to Nicolas Sansom, md of Thomas Miller (South East Asia).
LR warns on Y2K bug LLOYD'S Register has warned shipowners and operators that they must accept the possibility of failures occurring as a result of the Year 2000 problem.
Christmas cargo endangered THE surge in volume of eastbound cargo from Asia to the US has endangered cargo for the Christmas market.
Australian exports hit by Japanese contraction AUSTRALIA'S exports are facing increasing danger from the continuing recession in Japan, its biggest market.
Ningbo to list in Hong Kong THE Chinese Port of Ningbo has been granted approval to list its shares in Hong Kong.
P&O Ports suffers labour setback P&O PORTS has had its second dose of bad news in as many days with two of Australia's largest ports' workforces rejecting a new labour agreement with the company.
Belfast sale under review BELFAST Harbour Commissioners are conducting "the most extensive round of briefings ever undertaken in Northern Ireland" regarding the sale of the Port of Belfast.
Coombs claims victory - P&O Ports to feel the heat THE federal leadership of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) yesterday claimed victory for its vision of the future of the Australian waterfront. The national secretary of the union, John Coombs, told DCN that while some votes were still coming in from regional ports, the rank and file supported the motions from the national council by a margin of three to one. Mr Coombs stressed that only in Sydney was there a vote against the in principle agreement with P&O Ports, adding that DCN correctly identified that the vote in Brisbane did not concern this document.
AMSA detains 24 in November THE number of vessels detained by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority under port state control rose from 17 during October to 24 in November. The November detentions brought the number of ship detentions during the period 1 January to 30 November to a total of 190, including two Australian registered vessels. One of the longest detentions during the latest period under review involved the Malaysian registered containership Nepline Teratai which was held up in Brisbane for over eight days, delaying the vessels scheduled sailing time by 195 hours.
Columbus in new South American co-operation COLUMBUS Line’s parent company, Hamburg Sud and its Brazilian partner, Alianca, are to enter into co-operation with CGM/Transroll in the trade between northern Europe and the east coast of South America. The presently operated individual services of both groups will be merged into one joint, high frequency, service. The co-operation will commence in the second half of this month. It will embrace the joint operations of vessels and the sharing of slots. The fleet will include nine vessels of about 2,000 teus each.
Matson Executive Dies At 49 Matson Navigation Co. executive Walter D. Brewer, 49, died unexpectedly on November 11. Mr. Brewer had been the company’s director of corporate development at the San Francisco headquarters since 1990. He directed and oversaw the development of a number of key strategic initiatives for the company, including the development of an alliance service in the Pacific with APL in 1996. "He was an exceptionally valuable member of our executive team who had a unique ability to use his broad experiences and extremely inquisitive mind to formulate very clear strategies, as well as provide comprehensive and visionary insights into the future of our organization," said C. Bradley Mulholland, Matson president and CEO. Mr. Brewer is survived by his wife and their two children.
NNS Promotes Six To Director Roles Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) has promoted six employees to director positions within the organization. Jennifer Boykin, who joined the company in 1987, has been appointed director of Facilities. She is responsible for the facilities engineering, construction and the maintenance of company buildings, equipment and service throughout the 550-acre facility in Virginia. Greg Corey has been promoted to director and assistant controller with responsibilities including financial reporting, general accounting, tax and government liaison functions. John Lilley, promoted to director of Carrier Overhauls, will lead the effort to plan and conduct overhauls of aircraft carriers at NNS. A 26-year employee of NNS, Harold Paxton has been appointed to director of Carrier Construction. Mr. Paxton will be responsible for all carrier construction activities to include ship progress, schedules and performance. Tim Thomassy has been appointed to director of Business Development. Mr. Thomassy will identify and evaluate new business opportunities for NNS, as well as provide aircraft carrier and submarine engineering design and analysis support to the U.S. Navy customer and represent NNS with the Navy and other Department of Defense customers. Mike Wynn has been appointed director of CVN New Construction/Design, responsible for the non-nuclear design of the Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), as well as CVN 77 and future aircraft carriers.
Lockheed Martin Executive To Head Southwest Marine United States Marine Repair, Inc. (USMR) has appointed Monty W. Dickinson as president and general manager of its subsidiary, Southwest Marine (SWM), located in San Diego, Calif. Mr. Dickinson joins Southwest Marine following a 37-year career with Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics. He will fill the position previously held by B. Edward Ewing, now president and CEO of USMR.
P&O Nedlloyd Has Positive 3Q P&O Nedlloyd has announced that cost saving measures and improved trade volume contributed to a 20% increase in third quarter profits, despite reduced rates and the continued negative impact of the Asian financial crisis. The company reported operating profits of $30 million for the third quarter compared to $25 million for the same period in 1997. Although there was a four percent reduction on revenues per TEU, an increase of 11 percent was experienced in this quarter’s throughput, which offset reduced rates, higher interest charges due to financing costs of new ships, and the negative effects of the Asian crisis.
GL Ranked As Fourth Largest Classification Society Germanischer Lloyd (GL) recently announced that its core ship classification activities grew by 19 percent in 1997. Worldwide, 4,664 seagoing ships of 26.6 million GT were in GL class at the end of 1997, representing a 12 percent increase in tonnage over the previous year. A member of GL’s executive board, Rainer Schoendube, said, "Reckoned by the number of ships classed of over 300 GT, GL is now the fourth largest classification society." Mr. Schoendube also said that Germanischer Lloyd held nearly 50 percent of worldwide containership orders by number at the end of 1997. By TEU, the society now has 43 percent of all containerships in its class.
ABB And IHI Form New Joint Company ABB Industry K.K. and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (IHI) jointly established Turbo Systems United Co. Ltd. in October. The joint venture sells and services the full range of ABB and IHI turbochargers for marine and power plant use in Japan and Taiwan. Emphasis will be placed in the introduction of the new generation of ABB Turbochargers and the further development of after sales service capabilities. Kendschi Takeo has assumed the position of executive director and president. He previously served as chief engineer at IHI, having gained vast experience in international R&D projects in the field of gas turbines, jet engines and turbochargers. Oliver Riemenschneider has been appointed executive director and senior vice president, and is also responsible for after sales services business. Masashi Kimura has been appointed director and division manager of turbocharger business. He is responsible for sales of new turbochargers, application engineering and product support.
BV Awards First VeriSTAR Machinery Notations Bureau Veritas has awarded the first certificates under its new risk-based classification system, VeriSTAR Machinery. Denmark’s Elite Shipping A/S and France’s SOCATRA were presented with certificates for ships certified with the new notation. VeriSTAR Machinery is a risk-based system which integrates the owner’s planned maintenance system with classification. Risk analyses are performed on the planned maintenance system to establish an acceptable risk level. The new system was launched in November in London. VeriSTAR Machinery has been tested in service on several different ships, and is designed to achieve more cost-effective operation and classification.
BF Goodrich Merging With Coltec Industries BF Goodrich and Coltec Industries have announced plans to merge. Under the terms of a definitive agreement approved by the boards of both companies, Coltec shareholders will receive .56 shares of BF Goodrich common stock for each Coltec common share. Based on BF Goodrich’s closing price of $35.94 on Nov. 20, 1998, the transaction is currently valued at $20.13 per Coltec share, or a total of approximately $2.2 billion, including the assumption of Coltec debt. The companies expect to achieve minimum annual cost savings of approximately $60 million by 2001, with significant savings beginning in 1999. The transaction is expected to be completed by as early as spring 1999, and is subject to approval by shareholders of both companies, applicable regulatory authorities, and other customary conditions.
Mobil Launches Water In Fuel Guarantee Mobil International Marine Fuels has become the first bunker supplier to offer a cash-back guarantee of low water content in its fuel oil. "Mobil guarantees a maximum water content of 0.5 percent in its fuel oil supplied at Singapore," says Iain White, Mobil manager for marine fuels and trading. "Anything more than that and we pay the buyer the difference." Heavy fuel products sold to the ISO 8217 standard are required to have a water content of less than 1.0 percent. Mobil is to guarantee a content of less than half of this for all its Singapore supplies. "Owners and charterers want the best price and the best quality. And they do not want disputes over quantities. Excess water in the fuel affects both price, quality and quantity. We are certain of the high quality of our product, and prepared to guarantee it," says White.
Moran Announces Executive Appointments Edmond J. Moran, Jr., a Moran employee for 27 years, has been named a senior vice president and will oversee the company’s port operations and ship docking business based in 13 ports on the East and Gulf coasts of the United States. Gregory F. McGinty, a former Turecamo executive, has been named a senior vice president with responsibilities for business development and the company’s construction and repair activities. William P. Muller will remain president of the company’s Moran Services Corp. subsidiary and has also been named a senior vice president of Moran Towing Corp. with responsibility for the company’s marine transportation and contract towing operations. Peter J. Nistad, a former Turecamo executive, has been named a senior vice president with responsibility for port operations and ship docking in Southeastern and Gulf ports. According to Moran Towing Corp.’s CEO and president, Malcolm W. MacLeod, the management appointments and the company’s reorganization along functional lines "represent a major step forward in realizing the benefits that we envisioned from combining the Moran and Turecamo businesses."
Cummins To Offer Case Credit Financing Cummins Engine Company, Inc. and Case Credit Corporation have entered into an agreement through which Case Credit will make financing available for North American commercial marine customers building or repowering vessels powered by Cummins engines. "This is a ‘win-win’ situation for our customers, for Cummins and for Case Credit," said F. Joseph Loughrey, executive vice president and group president-industrial for Cummins. "It provides a full array of quality financing options for our customers, a value-added way to increase Cummins’ sales and a means for growing Case Credit’s portfolio."
Tsakos warns bondholders NICK TSAKOS (phot0) has told junk-bond investors in US-listed Global Ocean Carriers (GOC) that the company faces a hostile market including delays in charter payments from the Far East.
The Suez Canal Authority has announced that it will introduce surcharges on transit tariffs through the Egyptian canal for most major cargo vessels, effective July 15.
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