Kværner still negotiating on shipbuilding exit Kværner Group is still negotiating with potential buyers for its shipbuilding interests--and it's still unclear whether the group's exit from the sector will take the form of a spin-off to existing shareholders, a straight sale or a joint-venture with another group. Meanwhile, the group yesterday announced a first quarter pre-tax loss,of NOK 858 million $112 million.
Smedvig again ups estimate of drillship cost Norway' Smedvig ASA has revealed a new cost estimate for the deep water drillship West Navion, now being completed at the Offshore & Marine yard in Sandnes.
New CEO for Ulstein
Litton makes $2.4 billion bids to acquire Newport News and Avondale Just when it looked like consolidation at the Big Six would end with a peaceful Newport News merger with Avondale, Litton Industries, Inc. stirred the waters again.
Lloyd's warns of worse than forecast 1998 losses International insurance and reinsurance market Lloyd's warned yesterday that the '60m ($96m) loss it is projecting for the 1998 year of account is likely to deepen as the full impact of deteriorating market conditions is realised.
Litton makes surprise bids for US yards US defence contractor Litton Industries has rocked the rapidly consolidating shipbuilding industry with surprise offers to acquire both Newport News Shipbuilding and Avondale Industries in separate deals worth a total of $2.4bn.
Norwegian Cruise Line set to push profits above $100m Lifted by a new 2,000-passenger ship due this summer, NCL Holding could post net profits of $100m or more in the year from August, the cruise group's chief executive says.
Safren share price gains 3.5% SHARES in South Africa's Safren, holding company for shipping operation, Safmarine, rose 3.5% in early trade yesterday on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Canmar plans new Europe service to US CANADA Maritime is considering a move into a new trade lane.
Mitsui OSK and APL to add loop MITSUI OSK Lines and APL are both adding an extra transatlantic loop to their schedule but neither carrier is introducing more capacity or taking extra space, writes Janet Porter.
ASA grouping confirms Asia service switch The ASA liner consortium has confirmed that it is planning to switch one of its two Australia/southeast Asia services into a new Aust-ralia/northeast Asian operation.
AP Møller chief warns over Denmark register DENMARK'S most powerful shipowner has sent a warning shot to the government about the importance of preserving the country's international register.
Anvers: CP devrait consolider ses lignes sur un terminal public... Théoriquement, c'est dans le courant de ce mois de mai que le groupe CP Ships, qui mène actuellement des pourparlers avec plusieurs manutentionnaires anversois, devrait prendre une décision quant à la concentration des trafics de ses filiales sur un quai anversois. En ce compris devrait figurer la filiale Cast qui quitterait ainsi le port de Zeebrugge pour autant que l'aspect de la rupture de contrat avec FCT soit réglé. Rappelons que plusieurs dizaines de millions de dollars sont en jeu.
La poste suédoise prend une participation dans ASG La société postale suédoise Posten AG a pris au début de cette semaine, une participation de 10,35% dans le capital d'ASG. L'entreprise nationale suédoise dispose ainsi de 6,42 % des actions à droit de vote du groupe logistique suédois et tente d'éviter que son concurrent Deutsche Post reprenne ASG. La semaine dernière, Deutsche Post a introduit une offre de reprise pour ASG via sa filiale Danzas.
Le terminal de Katoen Natie à Terneuzen ne sera pas uniquement réservé au trafic de Dow Des représentants de Zeeland Seaports, du géant pétrochimique Dow et de Katoen Natie ont signé hier un contrat pour la construction et l'exploitation d'un terminal à containers au Braakmanhaven à Terneuzen (voir LL 30/04-01/05). Selon le directeur de Zeeland Seaports, Jan Philippen, il s'agira d'un terminal public avec Dow comme principal client. Le transbordement est axé sur le trafic feeder et fluvial à destination des grands ports containérisés de la région, pour lesquels Terneuzen pourra fonctionner comme plaque tournante, a dit le président de KTN F. Huts.
NNS Again Targeted For Takeover Newport News Shipbuilding Inc. and Avondale Industries Inc. said Litton Industries Inc. offered to buy both shipbuilding companies in separate deals worth a total of $2.43 billion. The unsolicited bids come less than a month after General Dynamics dropped its proposed $1.4 billion takeover of Newport News because of U.S. Department of Defense opposition. Wall Street had long speculated that Litton might make such offers.
Workers Flee Yard Based On Prediction Thousands of workers reportedly have fled Alang shipbreaking yard -- India's largest shipbreaking yard -- in panic following predictions of an impending apocalypse. The mass exodus reportedly began after the publication of an astrological article in a New Delhi-based magazine which predicted that a coastal town would be submerged in water. A cyclone slammed into Gujarat from the sea last June, killing at least 1,000 people.
Japanese Builders To Combines Some Ops Japanese shipbuilders Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. and Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd. are reportedly in the final stages of negotiations on consolidating destroyer building operations for the Maritime Self-Defence Force.
Denmark's Oil Projection Up Denmark raised its forecast for crude oil production in its sector of the North Sea to 18 million cubic meters in 2000 from an earlier forecast of 16.8 million.
NCL Is Flying High Lifted by a new 2,000-passenger ship due this summer, NCL Holding ASA could post net profits of $100 million or more in the year from August.
Oil Prices Swoon On Stock Build Oil prices backtracked Friday as heavy European petroleum stocks showed signs of weighing on the market. International Benchmark Brent crude oil futures traded at $16.23 a barrel.
Frigate Contract Discussions Begin Norway's Defense Ministry reportedly will start talks with a foreign candidate to supply five frigates for the Norwegian navy for up to $1.6 billion. Norway's defense chief last month recommended talks with Spanish shipbuilding group Bazan and German shipyard Blohm + Voss to deliver the frigates, and eliminate a third rival, Norwegian frigate consortium NorEskort.
Seattle To Float Bonds The Port of Seattle is planning to sell at least $130 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds to fund the expansion of one of its largest terminals.
Ten years ago Schneider National turned the trucking industry on its head when it began tracking truck cabs and drivers with Qualcomm's OmniTracs satellite communications system. Many trucking companies spent years chasing Schneider's technology wake, scrambling to adopt new mobile communications technologies demanded by shippers. Schneider may be on the verge of a similar technology breakthrough today. Last week the truckload carrier announced it plans to use Orbcomm's low-Earth-orbiting satellite constellation to track its 43,000 trailers. The deal could raise the information technology bar that carriers must clear to provide the level of service shippers demand.
Even though the shipper and small-railroad-controlled Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council recommended Congress roll back the Surface Transportation Board's so-called bottleneck decision, two of the council's Class 1 rail members praised the congressionally created forum as valuable to mutual understanding. "The small guys aren't in agreement with us on the economics but that's not evil," said Norfolk Southern official Jim McClellan. "The economics of railroading favor the big guys."
Electronic commerce is providing new challenges for those trying to get a handle on stolen cargo. Now information protection is just as important as guarding physical cargo. Sophisticated thieves manage to siphon billions—estimates range up to $10 billion—from the U.S. economy each year through massive theft rings. Some 80 percent of all thefts occur while the freight is in transit, making carriers literally moving targets. How to combat that problem is the topic of new government commission.
The National Private Truck Council prides itself on a safe driving record and safety was on everyone's mind at the group's annual meeting in Long Beach, Calif. Private trucking fleets have 20 percent fewer accidents per million miles than their for-hire counterparts. NPTC President John McQuaid is pushing a big safety effort to bring down the absolute number of trucking-related highway fatalities, not just the per-million-mile number that is so often quoted by other trucking industry interests.
Airborne Express is not exempt from the labor woes that have plagued its competitors. Despite signing a four-year contract with its pilots in July 1997, the two have butted heads on innumerable aspects of the contract. Rather than duking things out in the grievance process, the pilots and the company are taking each other to court in dueling lawsuits. The labor problems don't end there. A lawsuit stemming from last summer's hunger strike heads into court in August on an unfair labor practice charge.
The benefits of single-line service have come to Gulfport, Miss., thanks to the Canadian National-Illinois Central merger and its marketing alliance with Kansas City Southern Railway. Instead of a victim of the railroads fighting over interline rates, the port was able to grab business that normally would have gone to rival Gulf Coast ports by taking advantage of new partnership coordination among the carriers. The port is looking at further ways of taking advantage of the alliance by devising methods to move reefer traffic off the roads and onto the rails.
Theft inside U.S. ports is of epidemic proportions. The Clinton administration has a commission looking into the problems and how to remedy them. It is modeled after what the so-called Gore Commission did for aviation safety and security. Auto theft and drug trafficking are just two items on the year-long agenda of what may end up being called the Graham commission after its principal sponsor, Sen. Bob Graham of Florida.
Two major satellite communications vendors — Orbcomm USA and Qualcomm—are partnering to market and resell an untethered trailer-tracking solution. The companies announced their partnership at the same time that Orbcomm announced Schneider National will install its equipment to track its trailers. Both company's solutions are in use at Schneider. At first blush it seems the two companies offer competing products: both offer satellite tracking, and both promise separate untethered trailer-tracking solutions. But sometimes a book cannot be judged by its cover.
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