R&B Falcon tidies up its deepwater position--signs letters of intent for newbuilds, plans to buy a slice of Navis and decides not to convert bulkers to drillships
Halter increases gross profits on vessels-but its backlog decreases from $988 million to $857 million
UK toughens stance on pollution BRITAIN is to enact tougher legislation on non-oil marine pollution after publication yesterday of the Marine Accident Investigation Board report into the Cita grounding of March 1997.
British authorities detain 12 vessels BRITAIN'S port state control authorities held 12 vessels in September, with a further nine still under detention from previous months, writes David Osler.
Nordic American trims dividend Nordic American Tanker Shipping is reducing its fourth quarter dividend to the minimum level following the fall in freight rates.
Alexander & Baldwin hit by Matson decline A 34% profits decline at its ocean shipping subsidiary Matson Navigation has resulted in Honolulu-based Alexander & Baldwin posting a sharp drop in net income for the third quarter, to $13.8m from $21.9m in the same period in 1997.
Gas shipping outlook 'gloomy' THE Asian financial crisis, an expected spate of large LPG carrier newbuilding deliveries in the millennium and falling raw material prices are expected to depress the gas transport market for the foreseeable future, especially on the demand side.
Wan Hai links up for new Gulf service LEADING intra-Asia operator Wan Hai is to link with Singapore's Sea Consortium to launch a new weekly Asia-Gulf service from October 31.
AP Møller 'returns to Hyundai' Danish shipping group AP Møller is believed to have embarked on a further round of VLCC orders in South Korea.
London Club raises advance call The London Steam-Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association has opted for a 5% increase in advance call rates for the policy year beginning on February 20 1999.
Eurotunnel back on track EUROTUNNEL, the Anglo-French tunnel operator, was back on track in the third quarter with a 24.5 per cent rise.
SNCM back in black FRENCH ferry operator SNCM has announced a 1997 profit of Ffr9m ($1.6m), compared to a loss of Ffr124m in 1996.
Gorthon forecasts reduced profits GORTHON Lines has reported a 12 per cent drop in pre-tax profits to Skr63m ($8.2m) for the first nine months of the year, and expects the year's final figure to fall below that of 1997.
Asean currency plan collapses A PLAN by ASEAN member states to use their own currencies instead of the US dollar in bilateral trade has collapsed.
Plane sailing for Sydney SYDNEY has re-launched itself as Australia's premier freight hub through an unprecedented joint enterprise by Sydney Ports and Sydney Airport.
Cartagena gets a lift CARTAGENA port in Colombia is boosting its potential for handling 5,000 teu ships through the addition of a second gantry crane and dredging at the container terminal.
Ugland boosts reefer investment NORWAY'S Ugland International Holdings, the specialist vehicle carrier which also owns a reefer fleet, has acquired a 10 per cent stake in Swan Reefers, the Oslo-based reefer operator.
LatAm trade 'set to double' LATIN American trade will double by 2010, according to a senior associate with Standard & Poor's DRI International Trade Group.
HMM to increase car carrier fleet HYUNDAI Merchant Marine is to expand its car carrier services by adding seven more new ships by the end of this year.
Unloading starts as Leerort righted LEERORT, the feeder ship that sank in Colombo after being rammed by another containership, was raised upright over the weekend.
Bass family increases OSG stake INVESTMENT companies controlled by the Texas-based Bass family now own more than ten per cent of Overseas Shipholding Group.
German pledge to boost coastal shipping GERMANY'S newly-elected government coalition says it plans a large initiative to promote coastal shipping to help remove traffic from roads.
Newport News profits soar NEWPORT News, one of the US's largest military shipyards, reported a third quarter 1998 net income of $17m, a big increase from the $1m earned in the same period of 1997.
'Voyager' launch date confirmed VOYAGER of the Seas, the first of the three Project Eagle cruiseships ordered by RCCL, will be launched next month at the Kv'rner Masa-Yards' Turku shipyard.
Ecuador faces banana crisis ECUADOR, the world's largest banana exporting country, is facing the worst banana crisis for five years as a result of the fall of confidence in the world economy.
Les opérateurs de transport combiné attendent désespérément la libéralisation du rail Des négociations certainement très serrées vont avoir lieu à très court terme entre la direction de DB Cargo et les opérateurs de transport combiné: en cause, des hausses tarifaires que la DB voudrait appliquer, variant entre 12 et 25%! Inutile de dire que dans les rangs des opérateurs, ce n'est pas la joie. Ces opérateurs agitent la perspective de la perte de pans entiers de trafic, au profit de la route.
Les ports flamands génèrent 60% du trafic ferroviaire Belgique-Pologne Dans le cadre d'une mission belge en Pologne a eu lieu à Varsovie une présentation commune des trois grands ports maritimes flamands (Anvers, Gand et Zeebrugge). C'était la première fois que les trois ports se profilaient ainsi conjointement. L'accent a notamment été mis sur la nécessité de transporter davantage de marchandises entre la Belgique et la Pologne par le rail ou le cabotage.
Cork ambitionne une desserte de la côte est des Etats-Unis "Depuis l'apparition du service direct "Euro-Med" de GrImaldi à Cork, Fiat Irlande dirige ses importations irlandaises vers notre port et nous avons enregistré une croissance remarquable du trafic des containers." Frank J. Boland, président du port de Cork, qui participait à la conférence de presse donnée par l'armement italien à Killarney, s'est montré résolument satisfait des développements que connaît ces derniers mois l'Entreprise portuaire, qui va investir 7 millions de livres dans un projet d'expansion, alors que 3,5 mio. de livres ont déjà été investis dans l'aménagement de nouveaux terrains gagnés sur l'eau.
Le Parlement européen soutient la proposition de la Commission sur les matières dangereuses Le Parlement européen devrait approuver ce mardi la proposition de la Commission européenne concernant une directive (à adopter par les ministres européens des Transports) sur l'harmonisation de la formation et des exigences d'examens pour les conseillers de sécurité en matière de transport de produits dangereux par la route, le rail et la voie d'eau.
Air forwarders press for removal of "ludicrous requirement" Australia's air freight forwarding agents are at odds with regional air cargo carriers over a new IATA cargo agency agreement for south-west Pacific region which is at variance with what has been settled for other regions of the world. Today in Geneva the matter comes before an inter-industry meeting of IATA for the air carriers and FIATA, the International Federation of Freight Forwarders' Associations. AFIF, the Australian Federation of International Forwarders, has made written representations concerning Clause 7.2.2, for the world-wide dropping of the monies in trust requirement on forwarding agents.
CTAL walk-out magnifies Sydney woes The situation on the Sydney waterfront worsened dramatically yesterday after members of the Maritime Union of Australia walked off the job at P&O Ports' Container Terminals Australia Ltd facility at Botany Bay. According to DCN sources, the walk-out took place over the manner in which disciplinary interviews were being carried out. In the past and in accordance with the enterprise agreement, one union delegate and two members of the management were involved in the interviews. But yesterday, the local branch of the MUA insisted that four delegates be present. In addition, instead of the workers being interviewed individually, a request was made for two workers to be interviewed at the same time.
Kernot gets many shadows Former leader of the Australian Democrats and now member for the Queensland rural seat of Dickson, Cheryl Kernot, was yesterday appointed as shadow minister for regional development, infrastructure, transport and regional services. Announcing his new shadow ministry, Labor Party leader Kim Beazley said that given the importance of job creation initiatives to Australia's future, particularly in regional Australia, Ms Kernot had been given a major role "beyond that envisaged for her technical counterpart (Minister for Transport and Regional Services), John Anderson, in the government". He said Ms Kernot would have very substantial responsibilities for dealing with job creation issues in areas of highest unemployment.
SSA: Dredging won't delay Webb start-up Difficulties encountered with the dredging program for the West Webb Dock car terminal development will not delay the expected operational start-up date, according to Strang Stevedoring Australia. SSA general manager (business) David Stephenson told DCN on Friday: "Webb Dock is going beautifully, there's a good feel about the whole project, it's very promising and the car industry can't wait for it to open." He admitted dredging was taking a little longer than planned but said the "engineering and construction people are very happy" and that the terminal would be operating by mid-November. Work on the terminal was originally due to begin in January, then February, with completion in July. Construction finally got under way in July and Stage 1 was predicted to be finished by the end of September.
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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