Weekly Edition 29th October 2009

Pirates take third bulker in two weeks

AL KHALIQ , an Indian-owned bulk carrier managed from London, was yesterday captured by Somali pirates — bringing the tally of this vessel type hijacked to three in the last two weeks.

Call for more protection as pirates strike outside zones

Industry bodies to review advice to ships sailing off African coast after latest hijacking

Europe not responsible for attacks outside Navfor remit

THE European Union says it cannot be held responsible for hijackings outside EU Navfor’s area of operations.

Hijackings outside Navfor area not in our remit, says EU

THE European Union says it cannot be held responsible for hijackings outside EU Navfor’s area of operations, writes Justin Stares in Brussels.

Somali pirates threaten to kill Ariana crew

SOMALI pirates say they will kill the Ukrainian crew bulk carrier Ariana, held since early May this year, as soon as fuel on the ship runs out, a Russian seafarer union has claimed.

Citadel concept must be approached with care

SIR, There has been much discussion recently about the validity of the citadel concept during an attempted hijacking.

US calls for stand against ransom deals with pirates

NATIONS should sign up to the New York Declaration to combat piracy and resist payment of ransoms to vessel hijackers, a senior US official has said in Athens, writes Nigel Lowry .

Pirates will kill Ariana crew once fuel runs out

SOMALI pirates say they will kill the Ukrainian crew of bulk carrier Ariana , held since early May this year, as soon as fuel on the ship runs out, a Russian seafarer union has claimed, writes David Osler .

Mutiny claim on US fishing boat is first in 30 years

Master alleges beatings of racially divided crew by officers and refusal to follow orders

Somali pirates seize yacht

SOMALI pirates have reportedly captured a yacht with a British man and woman aboard, with the aim of holding them to ransom. It is thought that they sent a distress signal last Friday, and there is no word of their whereabouts since then.

Call for more protection as pirates strike outside zones

NO WAY OUT: Turkish commandos approach a pirate skiff off the Gulf of Aden last month. Mr Davis says that while coalition and other navies are doing a fantastic job, they cannot sustain or increase the level of warships on patrol.

Piracy attacks this year surge past total for 2008

PIRACY attacks so far this year have already exceeded the total for all of 2008, with Somalia the number one global hotspot, according to the latest quarterly report on the problem from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

Tanker and supply vessel collision leads to fuel oil spill

SOME 50 tonnes of fuel oil from the 2003-built aframax crude tanker Krymsk has been spilt about 40 miles south-east of Galveston, after the ship collided with the offshore supply vessel AET Endeavour last week.

Pirates take third bulker in three weeks

AL KHALIQ, an Indian-owned bulk carrier managed from London, was captured by Somali pirates last week – bringing the tally of this vessel type hijacked to three in the last three weeks.

Casualty Briefs - 29th October 2009

 

State mulls move on terminal ills

NEW SOUTH Wales ports minister Joe Tripodi is facing mounting pressure to follow through on threats to get tough on underperformance at Port Botany.

Withdrawal of Botany’s free Sunday unwelcome bonus

IN A month of heightened anxiety about the landside performance of Port Botany, Sydney’s container logistics industry might have expected a reprieve from DP World and Patrick.

Governor-general to name Pacific Jewel

GOVERNOR-general Quentin Bryce will officially name the new P&O Cruises ship, Pacific Jewel, at a ceremony at Sydney’s Circular Quay on December 12 reports Rob McKay. The ship naming will be the highlight of a special event, the proceeds of which will go to the governor-general’s nominated charities, the Leukaemia Foundation of Australia and Special Olympics Australia. Ann Sherry, chief executive of Carnival Australia, which operates P&O Cruises, said the naming of a ship was intended to bestow good luck on the vessel and her passengers. “It’s a tradition which dates back centuries to a time when ships provided the only link between continents, with the naming conducted by a female – usually a member of royalty or a prominent citizen,” Ms Sherry added. “In keeping with this tradition, we are thrilled that the governor-general has agreed to fulfil this important role and become the ship’s godmother.” The ship, formerly the Ocean Village Two, will depart the next day for Tasmania on her maiden voyage for P&O Cruises.

QR moves to allow ‘missing link’ agreement to be signed

QUEENSLAND Rail’s (QR) acceptance of greater risk and revision of the early cost load for the $1.1bn Goonyella to Abbot Point coal rail project has allowed a commercial principles agreement to be signed with the coal firms involved, Aquila Resources said this week.

Freight forwarder and broker bodies announce engagement

AUSTRALIA’S peak freight forwarding and customs broking representative bodies plan to merge in time for the start of the 2010/11 financial year.

DHL’s surprise packet for local logistics

DHL officially opened its ambitious new $35m airfreight facility at Melbourne Airport this week.

Toll snaps up NZ freight forwarder

TOLL Group has made good on managing director Paul Little’s repeated pledges to make acquisitions, buying leading New Zealand freight forwarder Express Logistics Group (ELG). It was said last week that it had paid about $50m.

Court decision highlights importance of clear lines of authority for shipbrokers

THE CHARTERED Institute of Shipbrokers has warned against complacency in the wake of the Global Hawk case.

QR grabs another slice of Hunter pie

QUEENSLAND Rail’s battle for market share in the Hunter Valley continues to gather momentum with last week’s announcement of its new coal haulage contract with BHP Billiton subsidiary Hunter Valley Energy Coal (HVEC).

Montara plug attempts continue in vain

PTTEP Australasia was on its fourth re-attempt to plug the leaking Montara well on Tuesday.

Still gloomy for smaller transport firms

WHILE the big transport and logistics operators are riding out the economic downturn and talking of signs of a rebound, smaller operators were experiencing a different reality, according to Victorian Transport Association (VTA) chief executive Phil Lovel.

Victorian employers see port costs causing problems for stretched road haulage firms

THE VICTORIAN Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) has raised concern that mounting Melbourne port charges may distort the road haulage industry and harm the port’s competitiveness.

Asciano will concentrate on bulk rail

ASCIANO will rely on Pacific National’s bulk rail haulage operations to bolster earnings over the rest of the financial year, chairman Tim Poole said at the company’s annual general meeting last week.

Newcastle pilots set course for strike over pay parity

Pilots at the port of Newcastle have been granted permission to vote on strike action following a series of failed salary negotiations.

Patrick dip but some good signs

THE NUMBER of containers moved by Asciano’s stevedoring division in the first quarter fell 7% from a year ago although there are some signs of improvement.

State, industry set to share burden of NSW grain lines strategy

GRAINCORP has welcomed the advice outlined in the New South Wales Grain Freight Review, which called on government and industry to join forces in retaining and maintaining the bulk of the state’s grain rail network.

Green signals for Queensland and NSW rail link

A KEY link in the planned inland rail corridor between Queensland and New South Wales will be completed by 2014 under a proposal backed by both state governments.

ABB’s new grain terminal loads first ship

THE FIRST vessel to be loaded at ABB Grain’s new terminal in Port Adelaide’s Outer Harbor was scheduled to leave the port on Tuesday.

Seabed concerns show need for more climate research

THE FUTURE of oil and gas developments in Australia could be at risk from the potential impact of climate change on the country’s seabed, research conducted by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) found.

Hyundai Heavy secures $2bn Gorgon contract

SHIPBUILDER Hyundai Heavy Industries has won a contract worth more than $US2bn to build modules for the Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on Barrow Island.

South-east Asia free trade set to begin in January

THE FEDERAL Government has announced that the free trade agreement with south-east Asian nations will begin on January 1.

CBH completes first round of grain shipping allocation

CBH GROUP has auctioned off 70% of the core shipping space available for January to June 2010, the Western Australian grain marketer announced.

GE wins refrigerant deal for Barrow Island

GE OIL & Gas has won a deal worth more than $400m to provide advanced liquefied natural gas (LNG) technology for the development of Gorgon’s Barrow Island LNG project.

THE SEA MONSTER

Like the many-headed Hydra of Greek mythology, the Erika oil spill disaster has spawned a myriad of claimants, all of whose interests will have to be addressed at the appeal hearing running in Paris, reports ANDREW SPURRIER

Mutiny claim on US fishing boat is first in thirty years

THE MASTER of a US-flag fishing boat is set to bring charges of mutiny against three South Korean officers on board the vessel, in what appears to be the first use of the relevant legislation for decades.

Panama in detention backdown

THE PANAMA Maritime Authority has been forced into an embarrassing U-turn on a zero tolerance policy towards Panama-flagged vessels detained in Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) port state control inspections before the end of the year.

MOL forecasts box unit losses

JAPANESE shipping line Mitsui OSK Lines expects its container unit will remain unprofitable over the next two years on signs of rising global capacity and slowing world trade, which is dampening rates. MOL executive vice-president Masakazu Yakushiji said that the container unit would make a loss in the year to March 31, 2011, but he said it might be able to return to profit in the following year should rates rise. The container unit, which contributed 34% to MOL’s revenue, has planned to cut costs by 30% next fiscal year and delay new vessels.

Florida pilots’ ‘monopoly inflating costs’

THE STATE harbour pilot system in Florida has been condemned by shipping interests as a “monopoly” that inflates costs.

DP World takes Vietnam call

DUBAI-based DP World has handled its first boxship at Saigon Premier Container Terminal, an 80:20 joint venture with the Vietnamese state-owned Tan Thuan Industrial Promotion. The maiden call was by the 2001-built, 1,200 teu Asta Rickmers. The DP World-operated terminal, located along the shore of the Soai Rap river in the Hiep Phuoc industrial park, has a total capacity of 1.5m teu a year.

Port rationalisation – driven by ports, lines or shippers?

The future face of New Zealand’s ports is up for review but opinions vary on how plans will pan out, reports DAVE MACINTYRE

Contrary box flows are biggest challenge to the supply chain

LONG-term problems exist in the New Zealand supply chain through the continuing imbalance of container flows around the country.

Coastal operators welcome hubbing

FOR THE coastal shipping sector, the debate about port rationalisation and hub-and-spoke systems is largely a case of “we’ve painted the picture a thousand times”.

Feeder future for regions?

NEW ZEALAND’S regional ports are having to examine if their futures will be as predominantly domestic feeder operations given growing speculation the next-generation of containerships will be seeking calls at just one international hub on each island.

Kiwi exporters lament trans-Tasman barriers

GREATER urgency needs to be placed on removing trade barriers between New Zealand and Australia, according to local exporters included in a recent trans-Tasman survey by global express and logistics company DHL.

KiwiRail accepts challenge to go ‘commercial’

MUCH has been made of transport minister Steven Joyce’s statements that had the National Party been in power, it would not have bought the rail operation from Australian-based Toll Holdings.

Levy process found ‘significantly flawed’

A NEW Zealand Shipping Federation complaint over the process used to determine the Marine Safety Charges (MSC) Amendment Regulations 2008 has been largely upheld by the Regulations Review Select Committee.

IMO strengthens its position ahead of Copenhagen talks

A who’s who of US and international luminaries last week endorsed the IMO as the body that should formulate greenhouse gas rules for shipping. RAJESH JOSHI reports

AP Moller-Maersk saves half billion with slow steaming

AP MOLLER-Maersk has saved a total of US$500m in bunker costs so far this year through slow steaming and other efficiency measures.

Maersk taps bond market

SHIPPING giant AP Moller-Maersk has entered the international bond markets for the first time with a €750m (US$1.1bn) bond sale.

Owners look to bonds and equities

AN EMERGING recovery in equity and bond markets could help replace traditional bank finance in the shipping markets, according to Citi global banking. The prediction comes as the funding gap for newbuilding deliveries this year was estimated to top US$60bn and US$350bn for the entire global fleet on order. Outlining the possible financing options, Citi global banking managing director for industrials Anup Mysoor said US$7.9bn of equity has been invested globally in shipping so far this year, higher than the level in 2008 and approaching 2005 and 2006 levels.

Dublin port strike comes to an end

THE 15-week dockers’ strike at Marine Terminals in Dublin has ended following the company’s decision to accept a Labour Court recommendation on jobs and redundancies. Workers at the Peel Ports subsidiary, the largest box terminal in Ireland, will now get a pay-off package of six weeks wages per year of service, including statutory entitlements.

ExxonMobil’s PNG LNG project boosts capacity

US OIL major ExxonMobil has increased the production capacity – and the cost – of building its proposed Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas project.

Sesa Goa sees surge in China exports

SESA Goa, India’s biggest iron ore exporter, will more than triple production following a rebound in prices and demand from China and a move to diversify into making steel.

Beef imports ban set to go

THE FEDERAL Government is to relax the beef import rules it implemented after several countries reported cases of “mad cow disease” earlier in the decade.

BHP breaks iron ore

BHP Billiton has announced a record iron ore production level of 30.1m tonnes in the third quarter of 2009.

Scrapping over the human cost of beaching demolition

Shipowners are trying to sink a European Commission tax plan to fund improved working conditions at breakers’ yards on the Indian subcontinent. Is their opposition justified and will they get their way? Justin Stares reports

Arctic likely to have ice-free summers by 2030

ANALYSIS of the findings of the Catlin Arctic Survey presents bleak conclusions for everyone, especially the insurance world.

Start-up sets out new way for container cargo

THE CONTAINERSHIP Co will offer a new form of business model for container cargoes in an effort to find employment for some idle containerships, TCC managing director Franck Kayser told Lloyd’s List.

France pushes ahead with port privatisation

THE FRENCH Government has said that it wants to see the transfer of port authority terminal personnel and plant to private sector terminal operators take place during the first quarter of next year.

K+N sees first sign of seafreight recovery

EUROPEAN logistics group Kuehne+Nagel, which saw gross profit fall 7.3% to SFr4.4bn (US$4.3bn) in the first nine months of 2009, has indicated an improvement in seafreight volumes.

Spanish line under a debt siege

 

Long Beach, US truckers’ group settle legal dispute

LONG Beach has reached an out-of-court settlement with American Trucking Associations (ATA) on a legal challenge to the Clean Trucks Program.

Boost needed for Vietnam ports

VIETNAM needs US$20bn-US$25bn in port investment over the next decade, most of which will have to come from private investment, according to Vietnam Maritime Administration (Vinamarine).

Carnival mulls Princess order

 

How does the US Jones Act law fare in today’s world?

Foreign ownership and control over Jones Act companies has become an ‘interesting and complicated issue’, claims a partner with law firm Holland & Knight, reports RAJESH JOSHI

Container recovery talk premature, warns APL

APL president Eng AikMeng has warned it is premature to talk of a recovery in the container shipping trades.

Shipping tees-off to make it a bright day for children’s cancer research

SYDNEY’S Shipping Industry Golf Challenge shed its reputation as a drought-breaking event when magnificent conditions greeted about 70 players for the 2009 golfing outing last week.

Media’s story from the dream time

THERE’S something very likeable about young go-getters. You cannot help but want them to succeed.

Festive season for Young Shipping Australia in NSW