• More int'l shipping firms likely to seek public listing
  A leading professor in shipping finance says companies will need funds to upgrade fleets
• China deepens channel at Yantian port
• Cordigliera's wreck located by ITF
• P&O unit acquires transport group

• Cathay Pacific retrenches 760 staff, 5% of total
  Managing director says slump in regional markets has left it no alternative
• M'sia's Saeaga Airlines defers leasing of 2 A320s
• Malaysia Airlines to delay delivery of 20 Boeings
• Viet Airlines' passenger traffic stagnates

• Good and bad of air alliances
  More airlines are forming alliances, which let them sell seats on one another's flights but can confuse passengers

• `K' Line expands services
• Safari service goes fixed-day
• Yang Ming see profits plunge
• Indian port plans expansion
• China shipbuilding continues to grow
• Kielbas appointed president of insurance agency
• Cargo rates raised by Air France
• FedEx start new service to south China
• Britain and Netherlands show interest in Thai airports
• Baita Airport opened to new Russian route
• Aircraft manufacturers battle for Air India sales

• KLM to sell Northwest shares earlier
• Doubts surround digital tachygraph
• Westerlund records 8 percent growth
• Concerns over banana trades
• Rear light betrays theft of vehicles

• Clare Nordquist wins appointment to vacant Seattle port board post
• Port Everett waives land snags
• Oceans win U.N. recognition during ‘98
• Hvide Marine slows planned stock offering
• Congress seeks trade community counsel on replacing income tax

• European "Rail Freight Freeways" now in service
• MOL opens logistics firm in Philippines
• Hitachi Nederland receives ISO 9002
• Fedex shareholders approve Caliber deal

• ECT seeks blueprint for future
  SHAREHOLDERS in Rotterdam's Europe Combined Terminals (ECT) are in talks with an unnamed merchant bank to resolve the long-term ownership of Europe's largest container stevedore.
• Gulf tension lifts Brent price
  GROWING Middle East tension yesterday saw North Sea Brent oil pick itself off the floor in London as market makers for the first time began to factor the crisis into futures contracts.
• Japan move on reform of foreign crewing laws
  A DRAFT Bill to amend the two laws related to foreign crewing on Japanese flag vessels will be presented to the House of Representatives, the country's lower chamber, next month.
• Australian SAS blamed for port 'provocation'
  AUSTRALIA'S maritime union yesterday alleged the army was attempting to provoke union members into a major conflict over waterfront reform, Reuters reports.
• Stolt tanker faces new delay
  FRENCH shipyard ACH-Construction Navale, part of the Ateliers et Chantiers du Havre group, now expects to deliver the first of the series of three 36,700 dwt chemical carriers it is building for Stolt Parcel Tankers in October - some 15 months behind schedule.
• Smit snaps up port assistance deals
  SMIT Harbour Towage Company has secured a series of harbour assistance contracts following its decision to expand in the Scheldt Estuary.
• Undercutting takes toll of India shipping
  RAMPANT undercutting in sea freight charges over the past few months has taken the wind out of the sails of Indian container shipping.
• Customs to maintain check on terminals
  INDIA'S customs authorities will not make a complete exit from port terminals which handle coastal shipping, as proposed by the Ministry of Surface Transport, writes Shirish Nadkarni, India Correspon-dent.

• Spanish yard wins Tahiti order
  ASTILLEROS de Huelva has secured an order for a passenger vessel from Polynesia Maritime Transport of Tahiti.
• Fincantieri/Dalian plan aims to open doors
  FINCANTIERI'S recent agreement with CSSC-subsidiary Dalian New Shipyard aims to open doors for both companies in markets currently closed.
• Buquebus moves Lynx to subsidiary
  ISLE of Man-based Buquebus International has sold its fast ferry Stena Lynx I to Buquebus Espana, a subsidiary of Buquebus in Montevideo.
• Shipping credit analysis essential, says academic
  THERE is a pressing need for sound credit policy in bank shipping finance, according to the head of the department of Shipping, Trade and Finance at City University in London.
• Hapag-Lloyd warns of major drop in exports to Asia
  HAPAG-Lloyd shipping md G'nther Casjens expects a 30 per cent reduction in the company's exports to Asia in the first quarter of 1998.
• Profits boost for Polish yards
  GDYNIA Shipyard and Szczecin Shipyard achieved net operational profits of PLN (Polish Zloty) 20m ($3.45m) each last year according to preliminary estimates.
• Poland's first fast ferry laid up
  THE first Polish controlled catamaran car and passenger fast ferry has been laid up for the winter season at Swinoujscie.
• TNSW wins dredger order
  EMDEN-based Thyssen Nordseewerke (TNSW) has confirmed the order of a large suction dredger for Belgium's Jan de Nul for delivery in the year 2000.
• Twenty-one feared drowned as bulker sinks
  TWENTY-ONE seafarers are missing, feared drowned after a Cyprus registered bulk carrier broke up and sank south of Newfoundland on January 16.
• Australia seizes Mexican coal initiative
  AUSTRALIA'S coal exporters have seized on a new, liberalised trading measure in Mexico which they predict will boost coal shipments to Mexico.
• Calcutta signs dredging agreement with Dutch
  A FORMAL agreement has been signed between the Dutch dredging company HAM and Calcutta Port Trust for extensive maintenanance dredging in the Hooghly river.
• More Halla orders cancelled
  SOUTH Korea's troubled shipyard Halla Engineering & Heavy Industries has suffered further cancelled orders.
• Halter takes over Louisiana shipyard
  HALTER Marine, the acquisitive shipyard group based in Gulfport, Mississippi, has signed a letter of intent to acquire its 21st shipyard, Calcasieu Shipyard of Sulphur, Louisiana.
• Offshore order boom continues
  THE bonanza in orders for offshore supply vessels at Norwegian yards continues unabated with the latest contract for two Ulstein design UT745 platform supply vessels.
• Bulker grounding pitches lawyer against port
  THE grounding of the Greek bulk carrier Marianic-K off Guayaquil earlier this month has been blamed on continued lack of dredging by a local maritime lawyer.
• Antonini slams Brussels over Korean aid
  CORRADO Antonini, chairman of European shipbuilders group CESA, has sent a strongly worded letter to the European Commission slamming its policy on South Korea.
• Aker Finnyards to unveil investment plan
  AKER Finnyards, the Rauma, Finland-based shipbuilder controlled by the Norwegian group Aker RGI, is to unveil an investment programme on January 22.

• Anvers: la modernisation du traitement du conventionnel/ breakbulk sur les terminaux est en marche
  La perspective de la clôture des terminaux portuaires anversois impliquant un nouveau régime d'intervention pour les nations a suscité de nombreux remous sur la place, plus particulièrement au sein de certaines associations professionnelles. De nombreuses discussions sont intervenues, souvent faussées par des rumeurs ou conclusions par trop hâtives, quand il ne s'agissait pas d'informations erronées. Néanmoins, les opérateurs de terminaux regroupés au sein de l'ABAS, compte tenu de l'impossibilité d'obtenir une unanimité au sein des associations professionnelles sur un projet de compromis réalisé dans le cadre d'un groupe de travail, ont décidé d'introduire un nouveau régime pour le travail effectué par des tiers sur leurs installations, qu'elles soient clôturées ou non et ce, dès le 1er février prochain.
• Smit Havensleepdienst augmente sa présence sur le canal Gand-Terneuzen
  Dans le sillage de la politique de libéralisation menée par la Commission européenne, la lutte visant à augmenter les parts de marché se manifeste de plus en plus. Le secteur du remorquage dans les ports du nord-ouest de l'Europe n'y échappe pas. Si, jusqu'il y a peu, les opérateurs locaux pouvaient travailler quasiment sans devoir faire face à une concurrence étrangère, ce n'est plus le cas maintenant.
• Ocean World Lines entend développer la relation Europe-Far East
  Le NVOCC américain Ocean World Lines, qui a axé ses activités sur le FCL, a non seulement augmenté son trafic sur l'Atlantique, mais il s'efforce maintenant de développer un service au départ d'Europe vers le Far East, mettant à profit sa présence permanente à Nagoya. Pour l'instant cependant, c'est la relation USA-Far East qui constitue son activité la plus importante.

• MUA seeks high ground
  The Maritime Union of Australia has applied to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission for the establishment of a Maritime Industry Consultative Council.
  According to the union the MICC will offer employers and the federal government a forum to either "put up or shut up" about the quality of productivity improvements in the maritime industry.
• Labour’s fresh approach to waterfront
  The Australian Labour Party will advocate a fresh approach to waterfront productivity in Australia at its annual conference in Hobart this week.
  The Opposition Transport spokesman Lindsay Tanner is likely to claim that Labour recognises that efficient waterfront services are of fundamental importance to Australia’s future prosperity.
• Early success for ‘K’ Line WA service
  ‘K’Line Western Australia reports that the shipping line’s new weekly service between Fremantle and Japan is making headway against its competitors and it is already outperforming expectations just three months after its inception.
  ‘K’ Line Western Australia managing director Ross White said the JAFCO service (Japan Asia Fremantle Container Organisation) which started in mid-October was attracting up to 20 per cent more cargo on north-bound sailings that originally anticipated.
• No ‘clash’ holding merger back: Russell
  LSS chief executive Llew Russell has adamantly denied industry rumours that his failure to see eye to eye with ACOS chief executive John Jenkins, is one of the main stumbling blocks to any closer associations being formed between the Australian Shipowners’ Association, Australian Chamber of Shipping and liner Shipping Services.
• ITF finishes wreck survey
  An initial side scan sonar survey has been completed on the wreck of the Cordigliera which sank off the South African coast with the loss of 29 seafarers. Those involved in the operation, which is partly sponsored by the International Transport Workers Federation, sailed from Durban on 14 January and are trying to determine the cause of the sinking.