Weekly Edition 8th July

Steaming home, mission complete

Anders Egehus returns to his native Denmark a happy man. More than three years after arriving on these shores, the Svitzer Australasia chief had two tasks to achieve: one business-focused, the other personal.

Drivers win court battle in contractor first

A LEGAL judgment against transport company Riteway was a win for independent contractors and truck drivers, lawyer David Taylor said.

China Merchants buys pallet maker

CHINESE port and logistics conglomerate China Merchants Group (CMG) has acquired Australian pallet maker Loscam in a move to break into the pallet pooling business.

Junior miners win limited access to Pilbara rail lin

RIO TINTO and BHP Billiton will be forced to allow junior miners access to two key parts of their respective iron ore haulage tracks in the Pilbara.

New security rules will not compromise guard figures

THE PEAK body for Australia’s security industry believes the recent tightening by the Federal Government of the maritime identification rules will not cause a significant decline in the number of guards eligible to protect the country’s ports and offshore gas facilities.

New editor appointed to Lloyd’s List

EXPERIENCED international maritime journalist Jim Wilson has been appointed the new editor of Lloyd’s List DCN. Mr Wilson is currently the Asia-Pacific editor of the international maritime publication, IHS Fairplay (formerly Lloyd’s Register Fairplay), based in Singapore and will take up his new role early in August.

Masters get a raw deal, says shipping consultant

SHIP masters and pilots were increasingly made scapegoats for the failures of governments and port authorities, a special presentation in Melbourne heard last week.

Big bid interest in WA grain above-rail future

GRAIN handler Cooperative Bulk Handling Group (CBH) has received strong bids from Australian and overseas freight rail operators for the task of running the above-rail component of Western Australia’s grain network.

BP spill to galvanise rules tightening

AUSTRALIAN Maritime Safety Authority chief executive Graham Peachey has warned of a shift towards tighter offshore regulation in the wake of the BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Offshore fumigation for Tassie logs

A PUBLIC outcry at the port of Burnie has forced authorities to fumigate a shipment of China-bound Tasmanian logs offshore.

Temporary shutdown for Bowen Basin coal chain

SOME port and rail operations in the Bowen Basin will be suspended next week as the coal chain prepares for up to five weeks of maintenance.

Teekay confirms Palmerston replacement on Caltex coastal tanker run

TEEKAY and Caltex have reached agreement over a replacement for the 20-year-old coastal tanker Palmerston that will see the 46,955 dwt Hugli Spirit take over on the coast.

QR divides as coal haulage contract war powers ahead

QR LAST week formally split in two, with the newly-separated freight company, QR National, wasting no time in announcing a revised $250m coal haulage contract as evidence of the merits of this year’s privatisation.

Asciano’s $320m rail deal secured

ASCIANO subsidiary Pacific National has secured a $320m rail contract to haul up to 3m tonnes of coal a year in Queensland for Macarthur Coal and Noble Group.

Transport industry backing technology research project

DEVELOPING new and practical technology for the transport and logistics sector is the aim of a “living research lab” being developed by Australian and German researchers.

Hundred lose jobs as CBH restructures workforce

ABOUT 100 permanent and contract CBH Group workers will lose their jobs in a move Western Australia’s grain marketer has described as an “organisational redesign”.

CANSI warns of threats to China yards

THE CHINA Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) warned an increase in steel prices, the appreciation of the yuan and climbing labour costs pose a threat to China’s shipbuilding industry.

Shipowners fear unfair Paris MoU port bans

TOP shipowners and senior classification society figures have expressed disquiet about the impending shake-up of Paris memorandum (MoU) port state control measures, which could potentially see some operators hit by anomalies, Lloyd’s List has learned.

Protection push from Germans

GERMAN shipowners have demanded that the government applies pressure to make ship financing banks support small and medium-sized shipping companies.

Double-digit growth prediction for Asia-Europe box volumes

CONTAINER lines continue to enjoy double digit growth in the Asia to Europe trades, with freight rates holding firm despite the influx of new capacity.

Shipowners still appear reluctant to move towards energy efficiency

While steps to save the environment can also make business sense, owners seem slow on the uptake, writes RICHARD MEADE

In search of new avenues to plug the ship finance void

Greek conference looks into different options of how best to meet shipping’s pressing finance requirements, writes STEVE MATTHEWS

Focus moved to quality as yards’ quantity fell

THE current orderbook may not be brimming with cutting edge designs and alternative propulsion systems – but according to classification societies, wider concerns about quality have now been addressed, writes.

THE GREAT ESCAPE

THE MARKET froze in 2008 and by the middle of 2009 very reasonable observers predicted that shipping would be in the red. Ship values plummeted.

Vale deploys capesizes for floating storage off Asia

BRAZIL miner Vale could use five recently chartered capesize vessels to store as much as 885,000 tonnes of iron ore off Asia’s coast, the second time it has used this strategy in last 18 months to deliver iron ore at a quick premium to steel mills. A Hong Kong broker speculated Vale is betting on changed market conditions by early September.

Asian owners seek firm and decisive anti-piracy plans

ASIAN shipowners have called on members of the United Nations and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to develop “firm and effective punitive measures” to combat piracy and ship hijacking in the Gulf of Aden.

Forwarders positive of recovery despite weak season ahead

EUROPE’s freight forwarders predict a weaker summer market for cargo volumes, but industry sentiment still points towards an “intact” recovery, the latest monthly index by Danske Bank said.

Miners score major success to change face of the state

Resources boom gives bruised state economy a well-timed boost, writes PETER WILSON

State on the right road to progress

THE SOUTH Australian Freight Council has a new strategic plan to support the state government and to make a commitment to working with it on transport problems.

China freight link in the air

SOUTH Australia has hopes of developing airfreight exports to China and Vietnam if it can establish direct flights.

Big box lift from restock volumes

CONTAINER shipping is about to smash records for the second quarter of the year and is on track for further growth as restocking continues to underpin cargo volumes.

Evergreen drops out of top five for the first time

EVERGREEN Line has dropped out of the world’s top five box lines for the first time since it became a global carrier in the 1980s, according to new rankings by Alphaliner.

CMA CGM denies US$1bn Qatari cash injection deal

CMA CGM has denied reports in the French press that it is about to conclude a deal with a Qatari investor that would inject up to US$1bn into the business.

Containership supply squeeze is seen to end in four months

ONE OF the world’s largest ship financiers has forecast the pace of recovery for the global boxship market to moderate once the peak season ends after October, as large numbers of new ships flood the global fleet in 2010 and 2011.

US owners’ no to Jones Act claims

SHIPPING interests flying the US flag have strongly opposed a bill introduced by Senator John McCain that would abolish the Jones Act.

Doubts over Chinese ship scrapping scheme

CHINA’s new incentive scheme to encourage shipowners to scrap older vessels has received a mixed reaction from the country’s maritime industry.

Deepwater drilling ban to slash oil production

The world could be 850,000 barrels a day worse off by 2015 estimates suggest, writes MARTYN WINGROVE

Projects still on hold after Macondo leak

OIL companies have been forced to delay development of 12 deepwater projects in the US Gulf of Mexico because of the drilling ban and changes in regulations in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Container safety put at risk by lack of communication

FAILURE to circulate information about container-related accidents is slowing industry efforts to tackle a safety issue that puts lives at risk.

European Union border -free transit bid fails

EFFORTS to create a formality-free space for ships trading within European Union waters have been frustrated by national governments yet again.

Iran vows to hit back over inspections

IRAN will undertake retaliation inspections on ships of other flags if Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines vessels are targeted under UN sanctions, chairman Mohammad Hossein Dajmar has warned.

Distress messages: obligations and procedures

 

Out and About

 

Blue Star brethren to gather in Sydney

NEXT year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the famous Blue Star Line – which, unfortunately, effectively ceased to exist as such in 1998 when founding owners the Vestey family decided to get out of shipping.