14

Stay-at-home Olympics viewing hits box trade from Asia

by Lloyd's List in London 01:04PM, 14 Aug 2008

Asciano rejects report it will sell off Geelong Wharf

by Daniel O'Leary 01:03PM, 14 Aug 2008

LNG Ltd makes progress on Gladstone hub

by Rob McKay 01:05PM, 14 Aug 2008

Wakefield sale process continues as deadline looms

by Rob McKay 01:06PM, 14 Aug 2008

Drilling rig stops over in Rose Bay

by Daniel O'Leary 01:07PM, 14 Aug 2008

US interest in Australia's premium wines

by Lauren Lewis 01:08PM, 14 Aug 2008

Submarine officer blamed for midsea collision

by Lloyd's List Correspondent 01:09PM, 14 Aug 2008

Star Cruises shares slide despite cut in losses

by Lloyd's List Correspondent 01:10PM, 14 Aug 2008

As e-commerce takes off, users urged to check out Fonterra model

International industry portal Inttra has made steady rather than spectacular progress in Australia as e-commerce has become a more accepted mode of doing business.

All hands on deck: Shipbrokers seek united front for maritime industry

Rather like turning a large ship around, doing the same for a regional branch of a venerable organisation needs patience and enthusiasm.

Asciano to bust QR monopoly

Queensland Rail welcomed the entry of ports and rail operator Asciano into the state's lucrative coal market last week, saying the extra competition would improve services and standards.

`Don't blame us for results': Tripodi

New South Wales ports minister Joe Tripodi returned fire against the criticism Asciano made of the NSW and Queensland Governments last week, saying the infrastructure giant should not blame them for its poor financial performance.

End of coastal dream for now

She was meant to be the focal point of a small but significant renaissance of Australian coastal shipping.

Fortescue to put Atlas on map

Atlas Iron and Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) have signed a port access agreement, giving the Pilbara junior iron ore miner access to its Port Hedland port facility.

Inpex Total discover new gas field in Browse

Japanese petroleum giant Inpex said last week it had found another liquefied natural gas field in the Browse Basin in Western Australia. Inpex and its French joint venture partner, Total E & P Australia, which holds a 40% interest, acquired a permit to explore another acreage in November last year. The joint venture has since located a 72-metre gas column, named Mimia-1 .

Maersk plans Asian three-into-one switch

Maersk is to integrate its three Asia-Australia strings into a single “mega” service in pursuit of trade stability and operational efficiency.

NSW port trade grows an extra 7%

Trade through New South Wales's main ports increased this financial year with an average growth of around 7%, NSW ports minister Joe Tripodi said last week.

Spliethoff adding two new carriers

Spliethoff will introduce two D-type multipurpose carriers to the Australian break bulk market by year's end in support of the group's existing E-type vessels.

Study could signal death knell for direct port link

The New South Wales Government appeared this week to have scrapped a plan to build a tunnel between Sydney's M4 and Port Botany in favour of an extension to the M5 East motorway.

BHP mulls Brazil ore

BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining company, is currently considering developing a deepwater iron ore export terminal in Brazil, Bloomberg reports.

China ore demand to buoy market

The capesize market is set for a strong fourth quarter as iron ore shippers push higher volumes into China.

Hyundai Steel in Rio tie-in

Hyundai Steel, South Korea's second-largest steelmaker, will buy more than 10m tonnes of coking coal from Rio Tinto Group, worth more than US$3bn at today's prices, to secure supplies for its expansion, Bloomberg reports.

Vale profits surge above network angst

The world's second largest mining group, Vale, has posted another set of record results driven by the continuing commodities boom, but a historic second quarter operating profit of US$5.2bn was unable to paper over problems being felt in its logistics network.

Wine exports close year down

The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation last week reported the Australian export wine industry had lost about 100m litres worth of trade this financial year, a decrease of 13% from 2006/07.

Best to avoid terminal decline

If private equity wins Asciano, it will be hard to see Patrick or Pacific National ever being owned by Australians again.

DOWN-SIZING

Media and gambling mogul James Packer has waited two years for completion of his latest toy, the estimated $50m plus Z Ellerston , a 50-metre Mangusta 165 motor yacht.

Holistic approach to performance the only way

Landside efficiency of container movements remains one of the most elusive and challenging to all parties in international trade logistics.

Super-rich drive superyacht boom

James Packer has just got his. Roman Abramovich has got one — well, four at the last count – and their fellow billionaires are busy building new, bigger varieties to keep ahead of what has become the ultimate status symbol race.

Analysts' boost to DP World

DP World's consolidated capacity is expected to rise 77% to 49.6m teu, with throughput growth rising 13.5% to 45.4m teu by 2012, according to a report by NBK Capital.

Bid to beat EU accident probes

National governments are attempting to water down a European Union directive on accident investigation by restricting compulsory probes to “very serious” accidents.

Canada to guard aid

Canada has volunteered to provide naval escorts for World Food Program shipments of humanitarian aid to Somalia until September, as a stop-gap solution until more permanent arrangements can be put in place.

Cosco tries to ease jitters over Ji's exit

Cosco Corp's shares continued to slide after the shock exit last week of president Ji Hai Sheng.

Hapag for long-term

Neptune Orient Lines sees the potential acquisition of Hapag-Lloyd as a long-term growth strategy.

Heading shiprepair queue

Japan's K Line plans to invest US$25m in a Chinese shipbuilder/repairer in an attempt to secure a place at the head of the ship maintenance queue.

It's the delete key for port chief after IT system chaos

The Kenyan government has sacked the managing director of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) after the bungled implementation of a new computer system at the leading regional hub at Mombasa.

Lines hit faster than falls in cargo

Americans are spending less on furniture, lighting, clothes and footwear, to the dismay of shipping lines that are witnessing a faster-than-expected decline of cargo volumes.

Next one is faster still

Oman's National Ferries Company has begun its new high speed ferry service between Khasab and Muscat with the 52-knot Auto Express catamaran, Shinas .

No funds for ships

Details have emerged regarding a failed boxship order that raised fresh fears over the stability of the container market.

NOL warns of hard times ahead

Neptune Orient Lines's second quarter profits declined 19% as it warned of hard times ahead on the main container trades.

Shanghai port growth at lowest in 10 years

The world's second busiest box port dropped to its lowest level in a decade last month.

Shippers looking to beat US$30 teu fee

Shippers could try to thwart a Californian measure to collect a user fee of US$30 per teu from owners of containership cargoes using the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland.

Swire Pacific banks US$113m net profit

Surging offshore activity coupled with increased tug and ship repair operations led Swire Pacific's marine services division to post an interim net profit of HK$878m (US$112.6m), compared with almost HK$1.7bn in the same period last year.

SYMS left on shelf

The future of cash-strapped Chinese container line Shandong Yantai International Marine Shipping has been thrown into question after takeover talks broke down.

Teekay scraps five years of `unreliable' results

Teekay, one of the most respected companies in bulk shipping, has written off more than five years of financial results as unreliable because of incorrect accounting treatment of derivative transactions.

Barges adrift for 1,250 miles

The Indian coast guard called a security alert when 12 mysterious barges were spotted atop another barge abandoned on the sensitive Srivardhan coast, about 125 miles from Mumbai.

Russia targets oil link

Georgia's oil ports of Supsa and Batumi, which handle crude exports from the Azeri section of the Caspian, have been reduced to partial operations as a result of fighting between George and Russia.

Lords clarify assessment of late delivery damages

The recent decision by the House of Lords in London in the Achilleas case has brought finality to a very unusual case involving late redelivery of a vessel under a time charterparty.

Worse to come as insurer AIG takes US$5.4bn hit

The world's biggest insurance group, American International Group, has reported a loss of Us$5.4bn for the second three months of the year. Analysts believe there is worse to come.

General cargo another woe in the west

There is just so much happening landside and in the offing in Western Australia that congestion is getting out of hand.

Maiden call with megayacht

Queensland's Aurora Global Logistics, agent for Dockwise Yacht Transport, has hosted its first Australian visit of the specialist luxury yacht and cruiser transport, Yacht Express .

Mega-billion energy plans create stress

The wildest estimations of oil and gas industry planned capital expenditure in and around Australia is about $500bn.

With any project, it's join the shipping queue

While it is a given that resources and energy developments will be the mainstay for the foreseeable future of breakbulk vessels, there are also many civil projects now being improved to support the growing population.

Brazil the nut they cracked

Six Australian students showed they were well tuned into research and marketing in the International Trade Challenge in Kuala Lumpur.