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London's freight futures market 25% off '97 peak
March contracts signal global rates could dip further in the coming months
India needs int'l LNG carriers for gas imports
Work begins on new Evergreen terminal
3 prequalifiers back out of Subic Bay project
Qantas suspends several Indon, M'sia, Thai services
CEO minimises the financial impact on Qantas, but share price drops 4.3%
Cathay Pacific may be about to lay off 300 staff
Malaysia air cargo rate hike blocked by forwarders
Northwest may tie up with JAS
Tentative US-Japan aviation pact likely next week
Mercedes revs up India production
Giant in need of streamlining
China's largest shipping concern faces a number of hurdles as it seeks to expand further
Regulations governing arrest of sister ship of a culprit

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Jump in X-strait cargo volume
Cosco merges its units
Charges rise on `8900' Lines
Russia'a railroads make net profit in 1997
US Freightways appoints senior two executives
Uniglory launches India service
Monopoly in Egypt ends
Iran buys multi-purpose ships
Wal-Mart picks Emery as primary carrier
Chek Lap Kok aviation security company set up
Economic turmoil hinders growth of aviation industry

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JANUARY 15, 1998

Cooperation British Airways and LOT
Deepening of River Elbe halted
Higher rates Swiss intermodal transport
P&O Nedlloyd privatises hinterland transport
Austria's electronic toll levying does not work

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Alliance suspends Portland ship calls
Longview port board gets projects moving
Hold the phone, here are the past ‘Old Salts’
Greenbrier profits from railcar and intermodal transport growth
Evergreen begins building Port of Kaohsiung terminal
DOT releases edition of transportation facts

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Hyundai to launch Med, Jeddah direct service
Med Conference approves OOCL membership
Japan awards yen credit for Asian projects
Nagoya plagued by backlog
Singapore achieves 14 million teus
Opening of new Hong Kong airport postponed to July
Japan, China discuss air forwarding issues

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New blow to Halla shipyard
HALLA Engineering & Heavy Industries' breakthrough in the VLCC market has turned sour following the South Korean group's financial problems.
Aker Finnyards wins $94m ferries order from Bore
RAUMA-based shipbuilder Aker Finnyards has strengthened its orderbook with contracts for ro-ro ferries from domestic shipowner and long-term customer Bore.
Fresh battle for Subic Bay prize
GOVERNMENT lawyers in the Philippines have petitioned the Supreme Court to allow the rebidding of the Subic Bay Container Terminal project to resume.
Asia crisis firms face more share setbacks
BUSINESSES selling to Asia have been warned that stock markets may mark down their shares further, because their ability to withstand the financial turbulence may have been overestimated.
Record $9.5m fines for Rhode Island spill
US federal and state courts in Rhode Island have approved plea-bargain agreements that will cost Eklof Marine and others responsible for New England's worst-ever marine oil spill $9.5m in criminal penalties.
Incat seeks to secure summer run to Canada
TALKS are in progress to secure a Canadian summer route for catamaran builder Incat Tasmania's first 91 m wavepiercer.
Le Shuttle plans to charge freight customers in Euros
LE Shuttle Freight, the Eurotunnel subsidiary, is considering charging customers in Euros, the European Union's future single currency, according to senior management.
P&0 Dover-Calais traffic up
FREIGHT carryings on P&O Ferries' Dover/Calais service jumped 42% last year as the rates war continued to attract UK exporters towards the southeast, writes Justin Stares.

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JANUARY 15, 1998

P&O NSF confirms charter of newbuildings
P&O NORTH Sea Ferries has confirmed that it will charter two newbuilding roro ferries from Finnish owner Oy Rettig Ab Bore for its Teesport-Zeebrugge route.
Questions surround livestock carrier incident
INVESTIGATIONS have begun into how and why an unladen livestock carrier broke its moorings and crashed into several other vessels in Western Australia.
Shekou expects to double throughput
SHEKOU Container Terminals in southern China expects to double its container throughput this year.
Buenos Aires disruption had little effect
A SHOW of force on January 13 by 500 former-employees at the bankrupt Buenos Aires terminal No. 6 appears to have had little effect on the rest of the port.
Spain launches collision investigation
MADRID has launched an inquiry into the January 13 collision of the drilling ship Discoverer Enterprise into a bridge near the Spanish city of Ferrol.
Manila port operations set for radical change
THE Philippine Congress has proposed a measure seeking to create an autonomous body that would take over the management and operations of all port facilities in Manila.
Shell, Mobil to decide on gas project in May
SHELL and Mobil are due to decide by May if they will definitely go ahead with the billion-dollar Camisea natural gas project in Peru, which will include a marine terminal.
St Lawrence season 'best since 1988'
MICHEL Fournier, acting president of Ottawa-based St Lawrence Seaway Authority, described the 1997 shipping season as the best for nearly ten years.
Estonian ferry line changes its name
EESTINLINJAT, the ferry unit of Eckero Linjen operating a service between Helsinki and Tallinn, will change its name to Eckero Line.
Aker expected to win roro order from Bore
AKER Finnyards, the Rauma-based shipbuilder, is expected to win an order for two freight roro vessels from Finnish owner Bore.
Chinese foreign minister visits Malta DryDocks
CHINA'S foreign minister Qian Qichen visited Malta DryDocks yesterday, where he was shown round by Frans Spiteri, a director and MDD council member.
Chinese scrapping 'may not recover from slump'
CHINA'S ship-scrapping industry is shrinking under the weight of taxes and duties.

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Pacifique: les conférentiels confrontés
Situation particulièrement intéressante que celle qui se développe actuellement sur le Pacifique, où les armements conférentiels sont confrontés à la forte position qu'occupent les NVO dans ce trafic. Ces armements sont confrontés à un dilemme. Une restauration des taux s'impose d'urgence, surtout eastbound, car en l'espace de deux ans, ils ont chuté dans une marge de 850 à 1.100 dollars par 40'. En trois ans, la chute a été de plus de 30%. La cause en est évidemment la surcapacité et la chasse aux parts de marché. D'où la volonté du Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement (TSA), qui couvre près de 80% du trafic EB, et de l'Asia North American Eastbound Rate Agreement (ANERA) d'imposer pour le 1er mai prochain une augmentation de 300 dollars par 40', soit une hausse de 10%. Le problème est de savoir comment l'appliquer et à qui, car outre les tarifs classiques, les contrats de service et les groupeurs NVO devraient également être concernés.
Régime bananier: la CE ne veut pas renoncer au système des quotas
La Commission européenne a approuvé une proposition du commissaire à l'Agriculture Frans Fischler jeudi dernier. Le régime bananier sera en conséquence adapté aux règles de l'Organisation Mondiale du Commerce (OMC). La proposition de Fischler, qui sera maintenant soumise à l'approbation des ministres européens de l'Agriculture, devrait en outre répondre aux accords de la quatrième convention de Lomé, ainsi qu'aux intérêts des producteurs et consommateurs européens. Une décision doit intervenir avant le premier janvier 1999 pour satisfaire aux exigences de l'OMC.
Kluizendok: la décharge de La Floridienne et la ligne 55 doivent disparaître
Si les travaux d'aménagement du Kluizendok se poursuivent comme prévu (voir LL du 15/1), deux dossiers restent néanmoins en suspens. L'assainissement de la décharge très polluée de La Floridienne pourrait en principe être entamé sur le champ, mais la ville de Gand et OVAM, l'organisme public flamand des déchets, se rejettent la responsabilité financière de l'opération, qui coûterait entre 500 et 850 mio. de BEF. De son côté, la SNCB doit encore détourner la voie ferroviaire 55. Une décision rapide dans les deux dossiers favoriserait la bonne marche des travaux et faciliterait la mise à disposition des nouveaux terrains portuaires.

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Waste at sea
Hints of progress as UPS, pilots talk
EU plans to protest Japan slot giveaways in US aviation deal
Grain shipper asks board to reconsider ruling on UP's guaranteed freight pool
New air route planned
Greenbrier posts 14% rise in earnings for first quarter
Official considers Schiphol slot plan
Fate of Navy property to be decided in May
Potato growers urged to form shipping group
Thai national shipping fleet plan is shelved
NITL urges high court to affirm tax as illegal
Service is picking up some, but UP still lingering in the recovery room
Wintertime and the cruising is easy: Maritime cadets take to the high seas

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VCF in bid to halt private operation
V/Line Freight Corporation yesterday made an 11th hour bid to thwart the startup of a new private competitor on the Victorian intrastate rail network.
State government-approved plans for the Melbourne-based private group, Great Northern Rail Services Pty Ltd, to begin its first ever ballast train haulage contract today with its own locomotives and crew appear to have been challenged by VFC management.
Mission seeks answers about Cordigliera loss
An expedition to survey a wreck in which 29 seafarers lost their lives two years ago will take place this week four miles off the coast of South Africa.
The $US200,000 mission to explore the wreck of the Cordigliera, which lies at 300 feet, is being organised by the International Transport Workers Federation and the South African Department of Transport.
Administrators for Freo firm
Administrators for the Fremantle Shipwrighting Company are searching for investors willing to inject some capital into the 50-year-old company.
The company, which operates its hold cleaning and ship repair business from wharfside premises at Fremantle, went into voluntary administration on 5 January.
Patrick swings axe in Newcastle
The jobs of a number of waterfront workers employed by Patrick in Newcastle could be axed under the company’s reorganisation plans.
It is understood that as many as 20 out of the 35 union members employed by Patrick in the port are surplus to requirements.
Ship runs amok as storm sweeps Broome
A livestock carrier anchored at the north west port of Broome created a storm of her own when she rammed the port’s small boat mooring area, almost destroyed two vessels and caused extensive damage to the town’s jetty.

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Major Greek sales loom
Greek operator Drytank is trying to sell off several old bulkers by using a novel approach it hopes will boost prices in a poor market: charter-back agreements and finance packages.
Indonesian IPP deals in jeopardy
The future of shipowning ventures related to Indonesia's independent power producer (IPP) program looked bleak this week, as more postponements in the giant, coal-fed projects were made to appease the International Monetary Fund.
Owners pull the plug on some Korean yards
While Halla Engineering and Heavy Industries' main bankers piece together a plan under which the shipyard would sold off as a package with bankrupt automobile parts maker Mando Machinery, shipowners back off from orders at South Korean yards.
Global Carriers tries to sell off more vessels
Malaysia's Global Carriers is circulating another four vessels on the market, effectively putting a third of its fleet up for sale as Asia's currency woes begin to bite across the region.