Sea Empress liability bill may reach $65m THE final liability bill for the Sea Empress oil spill could reach $65m, according to Skuld which provided protection and indemnity cover for the vessel's owner.
Astilleros and Chantiers in joint bid Astilleros Espanoles and Chantiers de l'Atlantique are set to join forces in a bid to win a contract for four liquefied natural gas carriers which could be worth more than $700m.
Neptun reports $71m pre-tax losses Changing name to Neptun Maritime has failed to produce a turnaround in the fortunes of the former Silja line which has reported sharply increased pre-tax losses of Fm369m ($71m) for last year.
Maritrans sees net income plunge 81.5% OFF hire and lower utilisation have led listed US petroleum transport vessel builder and operator Maritrans to an 81.5% plunge in fourth-quarter 1998 net income, to $500,000 ($0.04 per share) on revenues of $39.5m.
Argentina set to boost waterways with $368m dredging programme Argentina is on the verge of signing contracts for new dredging contracts worth $368m as part of its continued efforts to improve transport infrastructure by opening up the inland waterway network.
Kvaerner lands $24m repeat deal from Egypt Kvaerner Fjellstrand has secured the largest single contract in its 70-year history. The $24m repeat order is for a high-speed JumboCat 60 catamaran for Egypt's Amco.
Merchant Ferries ups tempo with new Liverpool-Dublin services Cenargo subsidiary, Merchant Ferries, is launching its twice-daily ferry service today for passengers and freight travelling across the Irish Sea between Liverpool and Dublin.
The old 'rule of thumb' just doesn't measure up anymore The term "a secular trend" has nothing to do with the fashions worn by irreligious people.
Toyota: Zeebrugge et Dunkerque toujours en lice pour le centre de distribution européen Après une longue période de réflexion durant laquelle ont été examiné différents sites portuaires, la direction du constructeur automobile japonais Toyota a considérablement limité son champ d'action pour son projet de centre de distribution européen. Sur la liste des ports potentiels ne figurent plus que Zeebrugge et Dunkerque. Une délégation du constructeur nippon était vendredi matin dans le port côtier belge, où elle a précisé qu'une décision interviendrait d'ici un mois. La veille, elle était à Dunkerque. Anvers, Flessingue et Gand seraient définitivement écartés.
E. Grimaldi: "La promotion du short sea passe par la réduction des coûts du transit portuaire" "En ce qui concerne le Benelux, nous discutons toujours la location ou l'achat d'un vaste site dans un port bordant l'Escaut, dans le but d'implanter un grand terminal ro/ro multipurpose, qui traitera non seulement notre trafic de et vers la Méditerranée, mais aussi nos activités feeder intéressant la Scandinavie et la Baltique". C'est ce qu'a déclaré l'armarteur Emanuele Grimaldi lors de la réunion du MIF Short Sea Panel qui vient de se tenir à Bilbao.
Toyota veut devenir un des cinq "majors" de l'auto en Europe d'ici 2005 Juan Diaz Ruiz, vice président de Toyota Europe, a annoncé l'intention du constructeur nippon de devenir le numéro cinq en Europe d'ici 2005, avec 800.000 ventes par an et une part de marché de plus de 5%. Les ventes de l'année passée ont dépassé les objectifs, de sorte que l'ambition de réaliser 600.000 ventes en Europe a été avancée d'un an, de 2000 à cette année-ci. Ceci aura un impact important sur la logistique et le choix des ports. La nouvelle a été annoncée à Londres lors d'une conférence de presse de Toyota Europe.
AN: un regroupement gigantesque en cours Ainsi que nous l'avions laissé sous-entendre, les discussions en cours entre les armements impliqués dans des trafics sur l'Atlantique Nord, s'orientent effectivement dans le sens d'un gigantesque regroupement, qui se traduirait par la disparition de l'actuel VSA (constitué de Sea-Land, P&ONL et OOCL). En réalité, c'est un nouveau VSA (Vessel Sharing Agreement) qui verrait le jour. Outre les membres de Grand Alliance (Hapag-Lloyd, P&ONL, NYK et OOCL) y figureraient également Sea-Land et Mærsk Line. On le voit, c'est le rendez-vous des mega-carriers.
Trouble ahead as unions digest change Two developments that affected the Australian shipping industry on Friday and that will lead to the loss of 100 Australian seafaring jobs could spell problems for shipping lines in weeks to come. The first was the BHP announcement of its decision to withdraw from the Tasman while the second was a rejection by the rank-and-file members of the Maritime Union of Australia, employed on tugs in the port of Newcastle, of Adsteam's redundancy proposals.
BHP calls it quits on Tasman Trans-Tasman is shipping is effectively in the hands of cross-traders with the decision by BHP Transport to exit the Tasman trade after more than 20 years of participation. BHPT group general manager Bruce McGowan said the decision to withdraw -- "because of a continued loss of earnings in the liner shipping service" -- not been taken lightly and only "after an enormous amount of effort to make this service viable".
No immediate impact from Maersk's Safmarine buy Australia is unlikely to immediately feel the effects of A.P. Moller/Maersk Group's acquisition of the liner business of the South African shipping group, Safmarine. The most likely repercussions as far as Australia is concerned may be on Mediterranean Shipping Company's relationship with Safmarine and the Andrew Weir Shipping joint venture Safbank and, possibly, in the longer term, local agency arrangements.
ANSCON confirms expansion: details still to come The Australia Northbound Shipping Conference (Anscon) on Friday confirmed major expansion plans planned for this year. Anscon chairman John Lines said although a number of issues still had to be finalised, "it is quite clear that what we have on the drawing board represents a new era in service standards that will be introduced at a time to meet customers' requirements as we prepare to enter the new millenium.
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