Weekly edition 10 May

Eden may make minerals debut

A SYDNEY-based mining company is in talks with a terminal operator at the port of Eden about shipping magnetite from the New South Wales port. It currently mainly exports woodchips.

Centrex commits $45m to SA deep-water port

SOUTH Australian miners got one step closer to regular capesize vessel exports last week.

Hot potato – cars to Geelong option finally hits the wall

AND just like that, it’s gone ...

Pluto starts LNG production

THE PLUTO liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia has started producing LNG and is poised to load its first cargo onto the 2009-built, 165,500 cu metre vessel Woodside Donaldson.

Browse project wins Japan backer

LIKE waiting for a bus, you wait for one positive development in the Australian liquefied natural gas industry, then two come along at once.

Business case drives Sydney Moorebank hub into top gear

SYDNEY’S new Moorebank Intermodal Container Freight Terminal is set to be operational by mid-2017, following an announcement from the Federal government that the project will begin immediately.

Survey finds one-in-four masters faced charges

ALMOST one master in four has faced criminal charges at some point in his or her career, with the vast majority convinced that they did not receive fair treatment, according to research conducted by legal research centre Seafarers’ Rights International (SRI).

Asian urbanisation will put supply chains under severe stress

URBANISATION is an Asia-wide phenomenon, from India to Indonesia.

Police raid HSH Nordbank

GERMAN police have searched the offices of ship financier HSH Nordbank, the homes of four of the bank’s former managers and the premises of a security firm after a ship finance deal by HSH Nordbank went sour and is now at the centre of an investigation.

Heat starts to ebb from panamax market

PANAMAX bulk carriers have seen the heat ebb from the chartering market last week, due to national holidays from Asia to Europe taking people out of the office and to a decline in fixing activity.

Grand China Logistics executives punished

HNA GROUP has moved to discipline up to 21 senior executives of its shipowning unit Grand China Logistics (GCL), which has ended up in court several times in the last year over payment disputes.

Wärtsilä rides storm after sales drop

FINNISH marine heavy engineering group Wärtsilä has seen a drop in sales for its ship power and services division, but says that its order intake has begun to increase.

Has shipping learned its lesson?

CMA Commodores lament over ordering and say smart operators will spend on training, not tonnage, reports LIZ McCARTHY

Low price benchmark set for Chinese-built capesize bulker resales in April

TWO CAPESIZE bulk carrier resales under construction at Jinhai Heavy Industries shipyard in China have set a new benchmark, changing hands for US$36.5m each and representing a fall of US$1.5m from prices paid for similar vessels at the end of March.

Location both friend and foe for Darwin

“Our biggest strength?”

Ichthys LNG project massive on a global scale

WHEN disembarking from a Boeing 737 at Darwin Airport’s arrivals terminal, it is hard to miss the billboards advertising the 3000 skilled construction jobs on offer at the Northern Territory’s new LNG project.

Terry O’Connor reflects on eventful first year at the helm

“IT’S BEEN challenging,” Terry O’Connor chuckles, “but it’s been rewarding, and we’ve got a lot done.”

Darwin settles on contractor for supply base

SHOREASCO, a consortium which includes ASCO Holdings, Macmahon Contractors and Capella Capital, has been awarded the $104m contract to build and operate Darwin’s new marine supply base.

Intra-Asia rates battle hots up

Carriers in the region are defending their presence in world’s most stable maritime trade region, reports TOM LEANDER

US ports in line for record US$1bn in dredging cash

DRAUGHT-constrained ports in the US have received a boost after Washington recommended a record US$1bn in funding for maintenance dredging.

Vinashin eight appeal against sentences

EIGHT convicted former executives of Vinashin are appealing against the jail sentences they received last month, having been convicted of mismanagement of funds and other violations of Vietnamese state law. Former chairman of the Vietnam state-owned shipbuilder Pham Than Binh received a 20-year sentence.

IMO extends liability limits for owners

THE LEGAL committee of the International Maritime Organization has amended the limitation of liability for maritime claims convention (LLMC) to increase limits of liability for shipowners, after meeting for its 99th session in London last month.

NYK rumoured to be ordering LNG ships

Potential for orders seen as Japan’s demand for liquefied natural gas continues at record levels, reports HAL BROWN

Pacific Basin sees new opportunities

PACIFIC Basin Shipping, the Hong Kong dry bulk operator and a bellwether of the handysize and handymax markets, forecast 2012 to be a tougher year than 2011 and said the reprieve in the market since February was temporary.

Casualty briefs 10 May 2012

Maritime

Kingpin’s arrest highlights failure of prosecutions to halt piracy . . .

THE ARREST of Mohamed Abdi Garaad will disappoint the Haraadhere-based pirates who considered the commander to be their lucky mascot.

Why are states reluctant to share casualty reports?

COMMON sense dictates that ship investigations are important because any serious casualty is an opportunity to learn lessons and avoid similar accidents and the speculation surrounding the Costa Concordia incident proves the need to establish the truth.

EU unveils three-point passenger safety plan

BRUSSELS has set out its priorities for passenger ship safety after two years of study and in the wake of the Costa Concordia capsize.

Turkey’s box capacity set for 6m teu growth

TURKEY’s container terminal capacity is set to expand by more than 6m teu, as outlined in current development plans, accounting for nearly half of all new box terminal capacity in the Mediterranean.

Shanghai box throughput growth slows down in Q1

BOX volume growth at Shanghai, the world’s busiest container port, slowed in the first quarter, due to lacklustre growth in world trade and economic worries in China and Europe.

China’s challenge to class societies

Sector must think seriously about its engagement with nation, reports TOM LEANDER

TT Club writes more business but profits fall 90%

DESPITE a year fraught with natural disasters and competitive pressures, the TT Club has reported a combined ratio of 98.6%, with an 8.5% increase in gross written premiums to US$181.7m attributed to take-up for its new cargo insurance product.

Whiff of optimism for future of green technologies

TECHNOLOGY companies involved in producing environmental solution are beginning to see shipowners accept their products.

Surging bunker prices give boost to alternative fuels

GROWING fuel bills, rather than concern for the environment, are the driving force behind an increased interest in finding new fuels for shipping.

Lloyd’s List view

Asian promise

The little things that count

Innovation was the overarching theme of the recent BIMCO annual meeting in Singapore, writes MICHAEL GREY

Taking a tug on a steamy Sydney nostalgic voyage

ONCE a month, the Sydney Heritage Fleet operates its Secrets of Sydney tour of historical sites around the harbour.

This week in maritime history

Executives celebrate strike-free day thirty years ago