Weekly Edition 28th January 2010

Calls mount for naval forces to use lethal force against pirates

CLEAR SIGNAL: Pirates take aim with their rocket launchers on the deck of a Chinese ship off Somalia in 2008. A lack of clarity in international law has emboldened pirates.

Fishermen missing after collision with vehicle carrier

SHIPS and helicopters were searching for 12 fishermen missing following a collision last Thursday between a trawler and the 1994-built, 12,229 dwt vehicle carrier Curitiba off the coast of eastern China’s Fujian province.

Princess Ashika owner facing questions

JOHN Jonesse, the New Zealand businessman who bought the doomed Tongan ferry Princess Ashika, was to give evidence before a Tongan Royal Commission on January 21 examining why it sank.

Supply vessel hits North Sea rig

THE CREW of a drilling rig in the North Sea were evacuated on last week after a supply vessel hit one of its legs during an engine failure.

Crew rescued as vessel breaks up in the Black Sea

TWENTY-one crew members were rescued from a Turkish general cargoship when it broke up after running aground in bad weather on Turkey’s Black Sea coast last week.

Casualty Briefs - 28th January 2010

 

FREIGHT IS NOW RUDDIMENTARY

Prime minister Kevin Rudd says freight will be COAG’s top transport priority in 2010.

New rigs will depress 2010 utilisation, charter rates

CHARTER rates and utilisation of semi-submersible drilling rigs will continue falling this year despite expectations of increased spending on offshore exploration and field development work.

Esperance workers cancel strike after port weighs the cost of confrontation

WORKERS at the port of Esperance cancelled a two-day strike after they reached a last minute interim pay deal with the port authority.

Battle over empties impost

LAND and seafreight interests are preparing for a possible legal joust over Melbourne’s empty container operations.

Pakula picks up the Victorian rail portfolio to replace Kosky

VICTORIA’S Labor Party caucus chose Martin Pakula last week as the state’s public transport minister with responsibility for rail.

Maldon-Dombarton rail study is now underway

THE FEDERAL Government has selected ACIL Tasman and Hyder Consulting to conduct a $3m feasibility study into the completion of Illawarra’s Maldon-Dombarton rail line.

Botany rail link gets extra weekly run

THE P&O Trans Australia (POTA) freight train service between Yennora and Port Botany will boost the daily cycles along that route to three.

Southern Shipping failure brings emergency response in Tasmania

A DIFFICULT era in Tasmanian shipping will soon end when the state government terminates Southern Shipping’s Flinders Island service contract.

Newbuilding will position Furneaux to fill the gap

FURNEAUX Freight plans to increase the frequency of its Flinders Island service over time with a new vessel currently being built.

GrainCorp quiet on Irwin’s decision to quit

GRAINCORP’S managing director and chief executive, Mark Irwin, has quit his post with his resignation to be effective immediately.

Piracy can’t be tolerated: Shipping Australia

SHIPPING Australia has renewed industry calls for more effective action to be taken against Indian Ocean piracy, describing the international community’s response as “seemingly impotent”.

Dampier focuses on 2011

DAMPIER Port Authority chief executive Steve Lewis is looking ahead to a very productive year with trade in 2009/10 tipped to be at least 10% above the same corresponding period last year.

Freight specialist sees cautious cause for optimism

REMOTE areas freight and logistics specialist Northline will rely on business-sector caution, technology and a growing geographical spread to see off any lingering effects of the global financial crisis.

Downturn chips away at Albany figures for 2010

TRADE at the port of Albany is poised to fall for the first year in four because of a slump in volumes of its main export product.

No major issue for Brianna

THE OPERATORS of fully cellular containership MSC Brianna have clarified conflicting reports about repairs to her overboard pipe.

Austal-built vessel to help Haiti

AN AUSTAL catamaran originally intended for a now bankrupt client in Hawaii will be used by the US Maritime Administration for relief efforts in Haiti.

First ship at Newcastle’s new berth

THE FIRST ship has called at the port of Newcastle’s Mayfield No.4 berth, more than a decade after the previous tenant, BHP Steelworks, closed down its operations at the port.

Shell tops the league of dirty tanker charterers

OIL MAJOR Shell has emerged as the top charterer of dirty tankers in 2009, in a year when the total number of recorded spot fixtures dropped by nearly 9% to 8,800.

Fortescue jump in December

THE VOLUME of iron ore shipped by Fortescue Metals in the December quarter rose by almost 45% from the previous corresponding period as the total ore mined also increased.

Downturn leads to upsurge for China demolition yards

Record numbers of ships scrapped set to continue with China’s largest shipping lines outlining long-term plans to scale down carrying capacity, reports Hui Ching-hoo

Now is the chance to make a real difference to life at sea

A New Year’s message from International Maritime Organization secretary-general EFTHIMIOS MITROPOULOS

Union seeks change in maritime wage bargaining talks

THE INTERNATIONAL Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) will shortly submit proposals for changes to the underlying model used for seafarer wage negotiations to the Joint Negotiating Group in the International Bargaining Forum (IBF), involving maritime employers and seafarers’ unions, Lloyd’s List understands.

Only half of 2010 dry bulk orderbook to be delivered

ONLY half the 1,400 dry bulk carriers scheduled for delivery in 2010 will hit the water this year, two leading brokers have forecast.

Fredriksen urges Hapag-Lloyd probe

JOHN Fredriksen has launched a new attack on the management of Tui, the German shipping-to-tourism conglomerate.

Export orders fall at Japan’s yards

JAPANESE shipbuilders saw the volume of new export orders slump by nearly 70% last year compared with 2008, according to latest figures from the Japan Ship Exporters’ Association.

Global dry bulk trade set to increase 10% in 2010

INCREASED industrial production will see dry bulk trade rise 9% to 3.7bn tonnes in 2010, after falling 4% last year, according to Maersk Broker.

Singapore to lead Nato taskforce

SINGAPORE has taken over command of Combined Task Force 151, a multinational naval deployment on counter-piracy duty in the Gulf of Aden for a three-month stint, after the US handed over the reins last week.

Growing fears that banks may pull plug on shipping

DOUBTS have been raised about how long banks can continue supporting struggling shipping companies through the financial downturn.

Antwerp port volumes down

THE BELGIAN port of Antwerp, Europe’s second largest maritime hub, saw a 16.7% drop in total volumes last year, handling 157.8m tonnes of freight in 2009.

Philippe Soulié takes helm at CMA CGM

PHILIPPE Soulié, former chairman of the CNIM engineering group, has officially taken over as chief executive of France’s CMA CGM group following the first meeting of the group’s newly constituted board.

Supplies arrive – Port-au-Prince repairs begin

THE FIRST vessels laden with relief supplies arrived at Haiti’s earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince last week as US divers began repairing port infrastructure.

OOIL revenue hit expected

ORIENT Overseas (International) Ltd is set to post a 32% drop to about US$4.3bn in total revenues when the parent of box carrier Orient Overseas Container Line reports its full-year results in March.

Somalia remains piracy hotspot as attacks rise

Global piracy was up for the third year in a row as experts warn the true figure could be even higher, reports David Osler

Pirates said to beg for protection

THE SOMALI pirate gang that hijacked Maran Centaurus was reduced to begging EU Navfor for protection from a rival faction just before the release of the very large crude carrier last week, according to media reports from the country.

IEA predicts a surge in upstream oil and gas outlay in 2010

UPSTREAM oil and gas spending is set to climb 11% this year as oil companies boost their investment in new developments and exploration after a lull in 2009.

Iron ore is leading way for BHP Billiton commodities

JUST under half of BHP Billiton’s iron ore exports were sold on the growing spot market in the second half of 2009, underscoring major marketing changes for the steelmaking commodity.

Bumper grain harvest lifts owner prospects

BUMPER wheat and soyabean harvests from the US, Brazil and Argentina will push panamax and supramax freight rates higher during the second quarter of 2010.

Newbuilding glut leaves confidence ‘fragile’

THE INDUSTRY may be struggling to come to terms with a glut of new orders but business confidence appears to be unfazed, according to a new survey by shipping accountant Moore Stephens.

Wärtsilä axes 1,400 jobs and boosts China presence

FINNISH engine maker Wärtsilä is shifting parts of its marine production business to China in a move that will see up to 1,400 jobs lost in various divisions as it reacts to the decline in orders.

South Korea in cruise bid

SOUTH Korea’s bid to barge into the multibillion dollar market for building cruiseships is gathering momentum with the disclosure that Louis Cruises is in talks with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering for a mid-size cruise vessel.

Retiring Grout rues indifference to NZ coastal shipping

ONE OF the champions of New Zealand coastal shipping, Rod Grout, has bowed out with a parting shot at government shortsightedness.

Ian Hoskison

MOST will have long forgotten the names of all but a handful of the ships Ian Hoskison played a role in assisting over more than three decades in the salvage industry.