Weekly Edition 21st January 2010

Big containerships go flat out to avoid pirate attacks

LARGE containerships in the deepsea trades between Asia and Europe are under orders to go flat out in the Gulf of Aden, where pirates are turning their attention to bigger vessels that, until recently, were regarded as relatively safe from attack.

Philippine coastguard calls for bonds to cover rescue

PHILIPPINE shipping companies may have to post bonds to cover the cost of search, rescue and salvage operations if proposals by a coastguard commander become law.

Piracy suspect faces new charges

IN CUSTODY: Police and FBI agents escort Somali pirate suspect Abduwali Muse into FBI headquarters in New York last year.

Masters and pilots jailed For Neftegaz-67 casualty

TRAGEDY: The Neftegaz-67, which sank in March 2008 in Hong Kong waters, is lifted out of the water by a Chinese salvage ship.

Casualty Briefs - 21st January 2010

 

HAY POINT PLAN

BHP BILLITON plans to spend part of its US$267m capital set aside for infrastructure upgrades to increase annual coal capacity at Queensland’s Hay Point Coal Terminal by 25%.

Patrick slams Webb approach

ASCIANO has questioned the Victorian Government’s dash to have Webb Dock given the green light as a third container stevedoring option in Melbourne.

Melbourne shrugs off trade gloom

THE PORT of Melbourne continued to shake off the global financial crisis with a bold showing for throughput last month and a container movement record claimed by DP World at the start of this month.

Montara plugged as authority looks for regulatory control

PTTEP Australasia hailed the end of plugging operations on its troublesome Montara well last week, just as the offshore energy regulatory debate heated up.

Logistics lag puts focus on urgent reform

THE WORLD Bank’s latest biennial Logistics Performance Index (LPI) has put the urgency for the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to press on with finding a common regulatory framework across all freight transport modes into sharp relief.

Lease links Queensland to ARTC network

THE TRANSFER of 101km of Queensland standard-gauge rail line to Australian Rail Track Corporation control last Friday has given the country an almost-seamless 11,000km national rail network.

New minister set to scrum down to make ports matter

Paul McLeay took over responsibility for New South Wales ports in dramatic circumstances just two months ago. Sineva Toevai meets the new minister and reports on what the industry can expect

Global downturn squeezes PFL

PACIFIC Forum Line, the Auckland-based carrier jointly owned by 12 regional governments, is rationalising its operations as it battles the effects of the global recession in its key markets.

Road relief set for Port Botany

THE AUSTRALIAN Trucking Association New South Wales welcomed the road project geared at improving heavy vehicle access to freight precincts around Port Botany and Sydney Airport.

Coal is gold in latest trade trend figures

FEDERAL trade minister Simon Crean says the growth in exports across most states is a reflection of Australia’s trade agreements with other nations.

New marriage in North & East Asia trade

MAERSK Line and the Hamburg Sud-led AAUS group are to exchange slots on their respective Australia-North & East Asia (N&EA) services, enabling tighter regional focus and operational savings.

First Kupe oil bound for Kwinana refinery

NEW ZEALAND’S first shipment of light crude from the Kupe field will leave Port Taranaki this week.

Box trade to Europe continues to struggle

CONTAINER trade between Europe and Australia/Oceania fell 6.8% in November compared with the same month in 2008, European Liner Affairs Association data has shown.

Darwin’s port set for steady growth

DARWIN Port Corporation chief executive Robert Ritchie expects total volume of trade at the Northern Territory gateway to increase by more than 20% this year amid predictions of growth in bulk mineral volume and a rebound in the cattle livestock industry.

Lead risk downplayed, Esperance public wary

AN INDEPENDENT report into contamination risks in Esperance has downplayed the danger to community health but has identified public concerns and the distrust of officialdom as significant issues for authorities.

Web map SMART move for truckers

THE NATIONAL Transport Commission’s (NTC) interactive map internet portal came on stream just after midnight on Monday morning.

LNG lifts sector spirits

With almost US$110bn forecast to be invested in liquefied natural gas projects over the next five years, shipowners and shipyards at last have cause to smile, writes Martyn Wingrove

Shipping industry now reassesses the power of a nuclear comeback

Companies look into the possibility of nuclear power as a low-carbon fuel source, writes CRAIG EASON

Logistics cycle has ‘turned’ but no return to pre-slump levels

NEW research suggests that global logistics volumes are recovering and that the recessionary cycle has “turned”, although a HSBC report cautions against hopes of “a swift return” to the strong flows and earnings growth prior to the slump.

Hijackers hit jackpot with record ransom

SOMALI pirates have enjoyed their biggest pay day so far with a ransom of US$6m that secured the release of the hijacked Greek very large crude carrier, Maran Centaurus, on Monday.

Access is still the hurdle for Haitian quake relief

RO-RO tonnage appears to be the best transport option available to aid groups desperately trying to assist earthquake-devastated Haiti but severely damaged port facilities remain a major obstacle.

Pacific trade holds the key to container lines’ recovery

Drewry forecasts global 3%-4% expansion in traffic this year but warns that challenges remain, writes Janet Porter

Sector funding shortfall set to grow

DREWY’S estimates for the forward financing of the container segment make grim reading.

LA and Long Beach box volume back on the rise

LOS ANGELES and Long Beach have ended one of their worst years in recent memory with declines of 14% and 22% respectively in total containers handled at port premises.

Halting PierPass would be a mistake, says Widdows

NEPTUNE Orient Lines chief executive Ron Widdows has defended the PierPass system following questions about whether its cost could still be justified.

Positive start for 2010 as Asia-Europe box rates rally

FREIGHT rates in the Asia to Europe box trades are powering ahead as stronger demand catches both forwarders and shippers off guard, but are still less than half those that container lines were charging in the heady days of 2007.

Terminals ignoring boxweight rules

TERMINAL operators frequently ignore overloaded containers rather than comply with rules that could disrupt cargo handling operations.

Rolls-Royce pays out on engine system faults

ROLLS-Royce has reached a settlement with Royal Caribbean Cruises over a dispute involving the engine supplier’s Mermaid pod propulsion system.

Report condemnation of Bangladeshi yards

A US human rights group has released graphic photos and published eyewitness accounts of a fatal explosion at a Bangladeshi shipbreaking yard that killed seven cutters working on a main gas tank.

Ports warn Brussels MPs over state aid

EUROPEAN port bosses have voiced their concerns over the assessment of state aid in the port sector and the delayed publication of state aid guidelines by the European Commission.

Court rejects Fredriksen’s Tui board bid citing conflict of interest

JOHN Fredriksen has failed in his attempt to have his right-hand man, Tor Olav Troim, appointed by a German court to the supervisory board of tourism and shipping group Tui.

Cold snap provides brief relief for the LNG market

THE SUDDEN sharp cold weather affecting most of the northern hemisphere in recent weeks has given a limited boost to the liquefied natural gas market and provided much needed employment for some idle LNG carriers. But ongoing surplus capacity means that the impact is likely to be relatively short-lived.

China in struggle to cope with big freeze

CHINA has mobilised troops to help deliver coal to power stations following disruption to land and sea transportation caused by freezing conditions.

Rio Tinto fourth-quarter iron ore sales hit record

FOURTH-quarter iron ore exports from the world’s second-largest iron ore producer, Rio Tinto, have hit new records, although mining company executives sounded caution about continued global economic strength.

Shanghai box volumes rise

SHANGHAI International Port Group (SIPG), which owns China’s largest container port, reported positive growth in container volumes in December for the first time in 2009.

Teekay plans to replace bank loans

TEEKAY has launched a high-yield bond issue of US$300m as part of a debt swap designed partly to extinguish an earlier series of bonds, but which also features some of the company’s existing lenders in a double role of issue manager for the new offering.

Newbuilding glut sparks dry bulk downgrade

NORWEGIAN investment bank Arctic Securities has recommended investors in publicly-listed dry bulk companies sell shares quickly before a “tsunami” of newbuilding deliveries hits the market.

Ship tracking poised to race into the space age

Cheap AIS data from low orbit satellites could revamp market, reports CRAIG EASON

Turkish outfit to create world’s first floating diesel power plants

A TURKISH energy company is converting four former dry cargo vessels into the world’s first floating diesel power plants with their own propulsion capabilities.