UK shipbrokers face legal battle TWO of London's top shipbrokers are preparing to fight allegations that they presented inaccurate valuations of ships which then swayed big life assurance companies to lend funds to over-extended Greek shipowner Adriatic Tankers.
Court to rule on Patrick sackings PATRICK Stevedores and the Maritime Union of Australia today expect to be told by the Federal Court whether the company must reinstate the 1,400 workers it sacked two weeks ago.
Alarm at Malaysia port project delays MALAYSIAN prime minister Dr Mohamed Mahathir has visited the building site of a M$2bn ($547m) greenfield port which may miss next summer's opening deadline.
British banker British banker Ewan Launder pictured being taken away by police yesterday after failing to pay a cash bail of HK$6m (US$775,000) and sureties of HK$5m. Launder, former chief executive of Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation's merchant banking arm, Wardley, was charged with 13 counts of corruption involving HK$43.95m, mostly in alleged bribe-taking.
Ferrymasters is main contender for Tees link P&O Ferrymasters expects to be the "main contender" for the new in-river ro-ro linkspan that Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority (THPAL) is to build in the second phase of Teesport 2000.
Daewoo confirms Norwegian ro-ro deal SOUTH Korea's Daewoo Heavy Industries yesterday confirmed it had won a $240m contract for three large ro-ro vessels from Norway's Wilhelmsen.
Most Chinese deepsea ships ISM certified AROUND two-thirds of China's deepsea fleet has gained its certification for Phase I of the ISM Code.
Akzo Nobel in agreed bid for Courtaulds DUTCH multinational Akzo Nobel has made an agreed bid for Courtaulds, owner of the leading marine coatings company International Paint, which values the UK group at £1.83bn ($3.05bn).
CNN returns to profit COMPAGNIE Nationale de Navigation, which is part of the Belgian group Compagnie Maritime Belge, moved into profit last year.
Analysts predict more acquisitions by CP Ships THE shopping spree at CP Ships may not be over, according to investment analysts in Canada.
Jakarta moves on port privatisation INDONESIA is looking at plans for a partial privatisation of state-owned port corporations Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) I and II later this year.
Bulk trade war looms in Melbourne EXTRA competition in the Australian state of Victoria's commodity handling sector is predicted as a result of plans for a new bulk terminal at Melbourne.
Jakarta vows to lift palm-oil export ban INDONESIA'S government has vowed to meet an IMF-negotiated deadline to lift a ban on palm-oil exports.
MPC takes control of Nenaco DIVERSIFIED industrial group Metro Pacific Corp has taken a majority shareholding in Philippine domestic ferry operator Negros Navigation.
German feeder starts Polish service BREMER Lagerhaus owned shipping subsidiary SCL is to extend its existing feeder services to the Polish port of Szczecin.
PNG dockers support Australia's MUA AUSTRALIA'S waterfront dispute has spread to neighbouring Papua New Guinea, where two ships have been banned by the PNG Maritime Workers' Union.
Elite wins financial backing DANISH feeder containership owner Elite Shipping has reached an agreement with its financiers which will ensure that it has adequate working capital.
Bremen plans major port investment BREMEN is planning a further Dm700m ($384m) investment in several port projects.
Australia bids to avert trade boycott DIPLOMATIC manoeuvring has begun between the US and Australian governments to avert a boycott of Australian agricultural products.
MUA dispute blocks 30,000 tonnes AN estimated 30,000 tonnes of cargo worth A$200m ($131m) is now stranded on docks around Australia as the country's escalating maritime crisis enters its thirteenth day.
Philippines seeks grain tonnage THE Philippines state-run National Food Authority has begun scouting for domestic vessels to transport 50,000 tonnes of yellow corn from Argentina, following a grain shortage.
Hitachi wins fpso hull order JAPANESE shipbuilder Hitachi Zosen has received a $40m order to build the hull for an aframax-type fpso vessel.
Cosco starts sea-rail service to Chengdu COSCO has started a sea-rail container service linking six Japanese ports with Shanghai and Chengdu, capital of the landlocked Sichuan province.
First ECDIS type-approval certificate awarded SOFTWARE group Transas claims to have been awarded the world's first ECDIS type-approval certificate by both Russia's Maritime Administration and Register of Shipping.
Freight set to take to the air Australia's air freight industry is ready to cash in on the ongoing disruption on Australia's waterfront with the country's biggest international air freight carriers preparing to provide additional air freight capacity. Qantas Freight said yesterday it had been 'flooded' with phone calls from sea freight customers inquiring about the cost of chartering freighter aircraft into and out of Australia in the event of further blockages on the nation's docks.
Legal appeals to prolong waterfront agony The dispute between Patrick and the Maritime Union of Australia is set to drag on for weeks unless the government decides on a dramatic intervention. This week's Federal Court decision on the MUA's appeal against the dismissal of its members by Patrick is likely to be appealed whichever way it goes.
World media portrays a country in crisis The world media is portraying Australia as a country in social and economic crisis as a result of the waterfront dispute. Most of the visual coverage has centred on the Melbourne waterfront, showing confrontation between police and protesters, with horror stories of how the car, wool, cotton, wine beef and tuna industries are about to collapse, and thousands of workers to lose their jobs.
British judge gives Patrick short shrift The manner in which the English High Court has dismissed an injunction taken out by Patrick against the International Transport Workers Federation has serious implications for the waterfront dispute. Mr Justice Thomas has said the injunction would severely impair the ability of the ITF to lend support to the MUA. In dismissing the interim injunction, he took the view that Patrick would not succeed in securing an injunction at a full hearing.
United Parcel Service doesn't want one more competitor to take away one more of its packages - especially RPS Inc. or the U.S. Postal Service. So UPS did something neither of those competitors can match: it attached a day-definite guarantee to every commercial ground shipment. The new UPS service comes at no additional charge and beginning May 4 will be an inherent part of every shipment. The move, if it works as planned, will erase the uncertainty that usually accompanies ground shipping.
Congressional insiders are no longer speculating whether the $217 billion House highway spending bill will prevail when it goes up against the slightly trimmer $214 billion Senate bill. Rather they're wondering what provisions of Bud Shuster's BESTEA proposal will survive the joint House-Senate conference that begins this week. The criminal indictment of Shuster's former top aide and fund-raiser, transportation lobbyist Ann M. Eppard, is likely to put political pressure on Shuster and give ammunition to those who want to cut billions of dollars in demonstration projects from the bill some critics have dubbed "Heist-tea."
The Big Four national unionized LTL carriers, with five years of labor peace assured by ratification of a National Master Freight Agreement that doesn't expire until spring of 2003, are now setting their sights on recapitalizing their operations to better vie with ever-intensifying nonunion competition.
United Parcel Service CEO James Kelly and U.S. Postmaster General Marvin Runyon almost went head-to-head, speaking at rival press events on the same day in Washington, D.C. last week. The UPS chief attacked the Postal Service as an "anti-competitive, anti-free-enterprise government bureaucracy" that charges more than is necessary for first-class mail to subsidize its nonmonopoly operations. Runyon defended the USPS. "We do not subsidize one type of product with another product," he said.
Despite assurances by Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation that they continue to work cooperatively toward a smooth division of Conrail, an April 9 filing with the Surface Transportation Board by CONSOL Inc., the nation's largest producer of bituminous coal, raises questions about the ability of the two to deliver their promised problem-free transition on at least part of the Conrail system. CONSOL said in its filing it reluctantly sought first to intervene and then to have conditions imposed only after learning NS and CSXT had been unable to negotiate an agreement governing operations of the former Monongahela Railway in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. CONSOL mines on the Monongahela, generate close to three-quarters of the traffic on the line.
The competition is cutting in on the Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement's business, according to the Federal Maritime Commission. And there's a lot more business to slice up. In its annual report for fiscal 1997, the FMC noted that TACA's eastbound market share fell another four percentage points to 64 percent, while westbound market share fell two percentage points to 66 percent. One of the biggest reasons for the decline, according to the FMC, is the entry of fresh blood such as China Ocean Shipping Co., Yangming Marine Transport and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha into the trade lane.
Levi Strauss & Co. slashed its operations in the People's Republic of China in 1993 when it couldn't find enough suppliers that could meet its criteria for fair treatment of workers. But now, five years later, it again is stepping up its manufacturing in that country. Levi Strauss insists the decision was based on matters of logistics, not labor. To achieve the kind of fast turnaround needed to compete, it has been the company's policy to locate manufacturing operations in or near the same region where it sells the product.
There's a new player in the supply-chain software business - transportation giant CSX Corp. CSX and Canadian software developer Sanga International Inc. have joined forces to produce and market Java-based logistics software for CSX, as well as government agencies and shippers. A joint venture company managed by Sanga will blend the existing software products of both companies to create web-enabled supply-chain management software.
The big question for those in the Latin American trade lane this week is fala portugues? Do you speak Portuguese? That's the official language, of course, in Brazil, which is the official hot market for U.S. goods in South America. And this is the week of the South American Intermodal Expo - second only to Atlanta among intermodal shows in terms of participation, according to those who say they keep track of such things.
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