Billion Dollar News Capsules

ABS has revised its comprehensive Guide for vessels operating in the Arctic and comparable harsh environments incorporating nearly four years of operational experience since the Guide was first issued in September 2006. Drawing upon feedback from the industry, the ABS Guide for Vessels Operating in Low Temperature Environments was reviewed by members of ABS’ newly established Arctic Technical Advisory Committee comprised of prominent industry representatives active in harsh environment developments.   The unique demands imposed on vessels operating in polar regions are addressed in the Guide as well as guidance relating to personnel safety and training. Major sections include: materials, welds and coatings; hull construction and equipment; vessel systems and machinery; safety systems; crew considerations; and training and related documentation.

Agility, a leading global logistics provider, has announced that it commenced operating an Australian domestic shipping service between Melbourne, Victoria and Bell Bay, Tasmania. The service is operated by Agility Shipping Pty Ltd, a joint venture between Agility Logistics Pty Ltd. and Transworld Marine Express Pty Ltd. The joint venture agreement between the two parties was signed in Melbourne.The three times a week service will be served by Australian-flagged and Australian crewed vessels, with the first being a 516 TEU multi-purpose self-geared container ship, the MV Tassie Bridge. Depending on customer demand for the new service, a second vessel might be added to the service later in the year, which would add additional sailing frequency.

Adani Group company Mundra Port and SEZ (MPSEZ) said it will pump in USD 13.3bn over the next three to five years for port development.The company that posted a 24% rise in its net profit said it improved its share in the country’s cargo handling to 8.3% from 6.7%. It also set 2013 as a target to turn the country’s first private port into India’s largest port.

A.P. Moller-Maersk raised its 2010 profit forecast, saying that an improvement at its ocean container carrier Maersk Line has been "greater than envisaged."The Danish shipping and energy group said it now expects 2010 earnings will exceed the 2008 profit of $3.5 billion provided freight rates, oil prices and the U.S. dollar exchange rates remain stable at current levels.

ABS Chairman and CEO Robert D. Somerville told at the Annual Meeting of Members in New York that “very robust orderbook” pushed the society to a new record fleet high of 159.5m gt by the end of 2009.

Asia Europe carriers cut rates on the routes for the first time by US$60-$47 bracing for rising capacity of 22,000-TEU, seven per cent of overall capacity, according to Paris-based Alphaliner  newsletter.The rates now stand at $2,104/TEU to northern Europe and $1,998/TEU to the Mediterranean reflected in a drop of 24.78 points on the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index.

ABS has published a Guide for shipowners seeking to obtain its optional class notations ENVIRO and ENVIRO+ denoting adherence to enhanced standards for environmental protection. The standards are contained in the recently released ABS Guide for the Environmental Protection Notation for Vessels.

A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S (APMM) and ABS have agreed to extend out-of-water drydocking periods from five to seven and a half years for eligible vessels. The agreement signed recently covers an initial fleet of 14 Maersk Line containerships. It has been initiated under a pilot program approved by the Danish Maritime Authority wherein vessels may undergo two underwater examinations before the traditional out-of-water drydock inspection is required.

A.P. Moller-Maersk reported its first full year net loss of $1.02 billion in 2009 as its core container shipping business plunged $2.1 billion into the red from a $583 million profit in the previous year. "The loss is significant, but 2009 was an extraordinary year with historically low rates and low demand," said A.P. Moller-Maersk chief executive Nils Andersen.

APL Beijing, the “New World Alliance” – APL, MOL & Hyundai – has just launched their new APX shipping service (Atlantic Pacific Express). Le Havre marketplace, being in the position of last outward port from Europe, is able to provide excellent transit times both to the East and the West Coasts of the United States, without any transhipment.

Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) in southern Jordan, under the port's 2009-2013 action plan, includes a 460 meter extension of the quay, as part of a new world-class container facility on the tip of the Red Sea. The quay will increase annual container throughout capacity to a projected 2 million TEUs when fully completed and equipped. The project, entails an overall capital expenditure of US$235 million, bringing total investment since 2006 to US$335 million.

ABS was named Best Classification Society during the recent Lloyd's List Middle East & Indian Subcontinent Awards held in Dubai. The award ceremony is one of six regional events hosted by the industry's daily newspaper to benchmark excellence within the maritime industry.  A panel of judges from a broad spectrum of industry selected ABS as the winner in the “Classification Society” category. The society has maintained a network of regional and port offices throughout the Middle East area for more than 30 years with regional administrative and operational headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

ADNATCO-NGSCO, the shipping arm of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Group of Companies, has entered into a strategic alliance agreement with global maritime industry leader Drydocks World. Under the terms of the agreement, some of ADNATCO-NGSCO vessels will be able to use the Far Eastern facilities owned by Drydocks World in Singapore and on Batam Island, Indonesia.

ABS and the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) have initiated an extensive joint training program covering survey of Arctic LNG carriers for a team of surveyors drawn from both societies. Classroom instruction at the RS training facilities in St Petersburg, Russia, is to be followed by a prolonged period of field training at shipyards for new construction and on ABS-classed, trading LNG carriers for in-service surveys.

ABS Nautical Systems clients will soon have a more prominent seat at the developers' table. Functionality to be released in version 5.4 of the NS 5 fleet management software this year will deliver personalized dashboards and reporting capabilities to its users.

Altona fishing port in Hamburg will be given a modern terminal building with an integrated and automated gateway. This will speed up the putting in and casting off of ships. Preparatory work for the project on the marine side has been going on since August. Before the end of this year a start will be made with the construction of the quay wall, so that the first cruiser will be able to put in to the new berthing space by mid-August 2009.

Agility, the world’s leading logistics company, announced the launch of its new Container Freight Station (CFS) - a major new consolidation and redistribution service - from its hub in Dubai. This new service will be offered to all shippers and consignees who have shipment of less than a container load (LCL)

ABS is now offering its clients powerful ship inspection and maintenance management software to be placed in the office and on board all newbuild vessels contracted to ABS class. The offer is also being made retroactive to apply to any newly built vessels delivered since 1 January this year. Vessels that transfer into ABS class may also be eligible for the program.

APL announce a new direct liner container service from southern Vietnam to the west coast of North America., APL's PS1 service has been making weekly port calls at our new deepwater terminal facility serving Ho Chi Minh City.

ABS has issued a new guide intended to provide supplementary requirements for the application of higher-strength, thick steel plates, greater than 51 mm, within the structure of large container carriers. The requirements in the Guide for Application of Higher-Strength Hull Structural Thick Steel Plates in Container Carriers are based on ABS’ extensive experience with the design, construction and in-service performance of large and ultra large container carriers.

ABS Nautical Systems (ABS NS) has donated its NS5 Fleet Management Software to the International Maritime University of Panama (UMIP). The donation includes the Maintenance & Repair, Purchasing & Inventory, Crew Management, Quality & Compliance and Replication Manager modules of the NS5 software suite. The modules will be woven into the existing student courses as real-world examples, thus giving students exposure to the software throughout their educational program.

ABS is currently involved with the review of or being considered for the selected class society for several groundbreaking Floating LNG (FLNG) and Floating Storage and Re-gasification Unit (FSRU) concepts.  “We’ve been approached by leading energy operators to help them evolve gas technology that has typically been developed for land-based facilities,” says Ken Richardson, ABS Vice President Energy Project Development.

Arabian Gulf remains a dynamic growth centre for ship building and repair, says a leading maritime industry observer. “The region is one of the busiest commercial maritime hubs with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar having major ports and shipyards with more being built,” said Christopher Hayman, Chairman of Seatrade, organisers of the region's premier event focused on workboats to be held in Abu Dhabi later this year.

Beluga Shipping, the German project- and heavy-lift carrier Beluga Shipping has selected MTN Satellite Communications (MTN), the global service provider of communications, connectivity, and content services  to remote locations around the world to install a broadband VSAT system on the new MV Beluga Shanghai.

Bocimar has converted its order for three Aframax tankers from Hanjin into an order for four bulk vessels, i.e. one 180,000 dwt unit to be delivered in October 2011 and three 205,000 dwt units to be delivered in January, April and July 2012. The purchase price amounts to USD 56 million for the first vessel and USD 73 million per vessel for the other three vessels. The instalments that have already been paid will be allocated to these new contracts. Further, Bocimar has acquired five newbuilding Handysize vessels (32,500 dwt) from their owners currently being built at the Jiangsu shipyard in China. The five units were bought for a total price of approximately USD 135 million. The delivery of these vessels is scheduled to take place in May and August 2010 and April, September and December 2011.

BSY Associates Inc. and RTG Communications announced the formation of Trade Partners Worldwide, a global marketing agency network dedicated to providing integrated brand development and public relations campaigns for clients in the transportation, logistics and international trade industries. The two partners are exploring additional network partners in Europe, South America and other locations worldwide. BSYA and RTGC will retain their separate business identities, clients and ownership

BMW Group Designworks USA and Belgian Yacht Builder Zeydon present the Performance Cruiser Z60 at the Mediterranean Scenes Fascinating design, superior performance and maximum comfort are the hallmarks of a new generation of offshore yachts that Belgian boat builder Zeydon will be presenting in France and Italy this fall. In spring 2004, when the company developed its first yacht, the Zeydon Z60, the Belgian specialist established a long-term, close cooperation with a design partner that has been renowned for its emotional and innovative premium design.

BP Marine helps to keep the ‘Angel’ flying Mission to maintain vital link with stranded seafarers off UAE’s east coast. BP Marine has agreed to supply the M/V Flying Angel with its lube oil requirements for twelve months.

China’s top ten container ports registered decline in throughput in June from the previous month amid doubts over the sustainability of the nation's export surge, according to a leading container shipping analyst. Throughput at the top ten ports, which account for the majority of China's exports and imports of containerized goods, fell by 1.9 percent in June to 9.92 million 20-foot equivalent units from 10.11 million TEUs in May, Alphaliner, the Paris-based consultancy, reported.

CargoGulf has continued its strategic expansion in south-east Asia with the opening of its seventh office, at Port Klang in Malaysia. The latest addition will further enhance the ocean cargo carrier’s consolidation services to freight forwarders and logistics companies across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.

China Shipping Container Lines posted a full-year loss of $951 million in 2009 compared with a restated profit of $6.9 million in 2008, the Shanghai- based company said. China’s second-largest container line generated revenue of $2.9 billion in 2009, down 43.4 percent from 2008.

CMA CGM has announced a rate increase of US$200 per TEU on cargo from Asia to Mediterranean and Black Sea ports and all destinations from Portugal to Russia. Meanwhile, China's Coscon is increasing rates $30 per bill of lading on average from March 1 on all cargo from south China to north west Europe and the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and west Africa. Coscon also announced a rate increase of $150 per box from South Africa to the Far East .

CMA CGM French shipping company started operating a new feeder service between the Port of Hamburg and the Danish ports of Fredericia and Copenhagen, as well as Halmstad in Sweden and the Baltic Sea port of Szczecin in Poland. The feeder ship "ELECTRON" calls at container terminals at the Port of Hamburg once a week. The "ELECTRON" cast off from the Port of Hamburg for the first time.

CMA CGM French shipping company has been operating between the Port of Hamburg and the Lithuanian port city of Klaipeda and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad since the middle of November. The feeder vessel ICE BIRD calls at the container terminals in the Port of Hamburg on a weekly basis..

CargoSmart Limited, a Software as a Service (SaaS) global shipping and logistics solutions provider, announced the availability of its Importer Security Filing (ISF) solution. The solution lets importers and logistics service providers collect the required ISF data elements from multiple sources, consolidate the data, submit it to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and monitor the document workflow and filing status. CargoSmart's solution helps customers streamline data collection, comply with filing requirements, and avoid late filings and penalties.

CMA CGM French shipping company has now launched its new regular weekly service French Europe Med Express (FEMEX) between northern Europe, Greece and Turkey. With the departure of the AS SCOTIA the CMA CGM shipping company now offers, a direct link between Hamburg and important seaports of the eastern Mediterranean.

China Shipping (Group) Company, received the prestigious International Hall of Fame Award for 2009. The Maritime Association Port of New York & New Jersey founded this award in 1993 to recognize maritime visionaries, who through excellence in their company, best exemplify the qualities of futuristic thinking that will guide the maritime industry in the 21st century

China's Northeast Shandong province plans to invest CNY53 billion (US$7.76 billion) to boost its shipping industry development and shape itself as an international shipping centre in northeast Asia by 2010.

China's domestic LPG shipping capacity, or ship storage space, is expected to increase around 70% or 70,000 mt to 170,000 mt by 2010, compared with 100,000 mt in 2008, a senior official with the LPG Transport Committee of the Chinese Ship Owners' Association.

Ceres Paragon Terminals (CPT) has changed its company name to Amsterdam Container Terminals (ACT). Ceres Amsterdam Marine Terminals (CAMT) will become Amsterdam Marine Terminals (AMT).

Chennai Port Trust (CPT) is planning to invite expressions of interest for its INR 480 million ro-ro terminal project in March 2009, which is expected to be completed by May 2009. Around 6,000 cars can be parked at a time in the new terminal.

DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, announced the launch of its new direct Less than Container Load  (LCL) service from Nhava Sheva, India to Los Angeles, USA. Operated by Danmar Lines, DHL’s in-house carrier, the new service will facilitate trade between India and the USA and offers customers reliable and cost-effective services with a reduced transit time of 26 days between the two ports.

DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, announced the opening of its new ocean freight terminal in Cochin and the launch of its weekly direct Less than Container Load 1 (LCL) Consol services connecting Cochin, India to Europe, North America and emerging markets via DHL’s multinational gateway in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

DP World, the global port operator, has spent GBP130 million to keep alive an ambitious plan to build Britain's newest deep-sea container port — the London Gateway. The GBP1.5 billion project, which would also involve building Europe's biggest logistics park, 25 miles east of London at Thurrock, Essex, was put on hold in March when DP World said that it was reviewing its future in light of the collapse in the world shipping market and the difficulty of financing the development.

DP World’s container traffic declined 8 percent in 2009 from a year ago but the rate of decline slowed in the second half of the year across its global terminal network. The Dubai-based company handled 25.6 million 20-foot equivalent units at its 28 consolidated terminals last year compared with 27.7 million TEUs in 2008.

Dubai Municipality has launched a new project called Marine Information Systems for providing up-to-date data concerning marine engineering and navigation electronics, as per the specifications of the hydrographic data collection and processing. The project's main aim is to introduce marine electronic navigation system to ensure the safety of shipping traffic as per the requirements of the Intergovernmental Oceanography Commission and in coordination with the Dubai Ports Authority, according to Director of Dubai Municipality's Survey Department, Mohammed Mahmood Mashroom.

DP World has reported a 10% decline in container volumes handled at its global network of terminals in the first six months of this year. The UAE-headquartered company saw throughput fall to 12.3m TEU in the first half of the year despite the expansion of its network to 49 terminals with the addition of new facilities at Doraleh, Djibouti and two terminals in Algeria, at Algiers and Djen-Djen.

DP World has signed a new multi-million dollar lease for its operations at Port Botany until 2024, which for the first time specifies minimum service standards as well as providing for compulsory investments in port infrastructure.

DP World has formally taken over operations at the Port of Djen Djen, now DP World Djen Djen, in accordance with a 30-year operating concession signed recently.

Diana Shipping Inc., a global shipping company specializing in the transportation of dry bulk cargoes ("Diana"), announced that it has executed an agreement with a related party to acquire a single purpose company, Gala Properties Inc., that has a contract with China Shipbuilding Trading Company, Limited and Shanghai Jiangnan-Changxing Shipbuilding Co., Ltd for the construction of a 177,000 dwt Capesize dry bulk carrier, identified as Hull No. H1138, with a contract price of $60.2 million.

DP World has suspended trading in its shares on the Dubai Nasdaq after its parent company revealed that it is in talks over the acquisition of some its stock to a private equity firm.In a statement to the exchange, DP World said: “The board of DP World has been informed by its ultimate majority shareholder, Dubai World, that Dubai World has received an approach from, and is engaged in discussions with a regional private equity firm which may or may not result in a transaction regarding a minority stake in DP World, coming largely from the free float.”

DP World reported a near 50 percent surge in 2008 earnings but said it is deferring half of planned investments in new terminals amid falling container volumes across its global network. The Dubai-based company boosted pre-tax profit to $621 million from $420 million in 2007.

East Coast Marine Highway Initiative, a partnership between Port Canaveral, the Port of New Bedford, Massachusetts and the Port of Baltimore, Maryland has received recognition as an initiative in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) new Marine Highways Program. The Department’s Maritime Administration chose eight projects and six initiatives from 35 applications submitted by ports and local transportation agencies.

Euronav NV provided an update on the FSO Asia, a Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) service vessel owned by the joint venture in which OSG and Euronav NV each has a 50% interest. After extensive commissioning in the yard, the vessel was redelivered to the joint venture and arrived at the Al Shaheen oilfield offshore Qatar

Emirates Shipping Line received the accolade by winning the Asia Pacific Shipping Liner Excellence Award at the 4th Supply Chain Management (SCM) Logistics Excellence Award 2008 held at Singapore.

Euronav NV executive committee announce that it has jointly with Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. signed a USD 500 million senior secured facility with ING, Fokus Bank, Fortis Bank (Belgium), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, BNP Paribas and Nordea, acting as Lead arrangers and ING as global coordinator and facility agent and Danish Ship Finance, Deutsche Schiffsbank, Dexia Bank, Scotia Bank and Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen acting as co-arrangers. The credit facility consists of a USD 180 million term loan to finance the acquisition of TI Asia (2002) and TI Africa (2002) by joint venture companies owned equally by Euronav and OSG and USD 320 million term loan to finance the conversion of the ships into FSO (Floating Storage Offloading) service vessels, which are scheduled to deliver to Maersk Oil Qatar on the Al Shaheen field offshore Qatar and start operation respectively on July and September 2009.

Essar Shipping Ports & Logistics Ltd (ESPLL), the largest shipping firm in India, was awarded the 'Safest and Most Environmentally Conscious Indian Shipping Company 2007' at a ceremony to mark World Maritime Day recently.

Euronav NV priced its offering of USD 125 million fixed rate senior unsecured convertible bonds, due 2015. The Bonds will be issued at 100 per cent of their principal amount and will bear interest at a rate of 6.5 per cent per annum, payable semi-annually in arrear. The initial conversion price is EUR 16.28375 (or USD 23.16852 at EUR/USD exchange rate of 1.4228) per share and is set at a premium of 25 per cent to the volume weighted average price of Euronav's ordinary shares on Euronext Brussels on 3 September 2009. If all of the Bonds were to be converted into new ordinary shares at the initial conversion price, 5,395,256 new ordinary shares would be issued, representing 9.44 % of Euronav’s share capital on a fully diluted basis.

EXMAR ended the year 2008 with an operating result (EBIT) of USD 79.4 million (USD 60.7 million in 2007). The operating result in 2008 has been affected by disappointing freight rates for the VLGC-fleet but supported by a capital gain of USD 19.9 million on the sale of the Midsize LPG vessel CARLI BAY.

Famous Pacific Shipping, is enhancing its intra-Pacific Islands freight connections with the launch of a new regular direct oceanfreight consolidation service to a range of Micronesian destinations, as well as Guam and the Marshall Islands.

Famous Pacific Shipping (NZ) Ltd in Auckland has appointed George Dobovanszky as business development manager with a focus on the development of the freight forwarder’s cargo volumes in the US - New Zealand trade. At the same time, the company has formed a joint venture with Royale International Couriers, one of the largest independent express companies in Asia, enabling the latter to establish a presence in New Zealand at a new office in Auckland.Marcus Goldsworthy, Famous Pacific Shipping (NZ) Ltd’s managing director, will oversee the operation of the Auckland office.

Famous Pacific Shipping seeks global expansion New freight forwarding members sought from the Commonwealth of Independent States, North Africa, and parts of the FSU, such as Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, especially.

Famous Pacific Shipping Lanka (Pvt) Ltd has been named as the preferred local freight partner by the Danish contractor MT Højgaard to handle the majority of the logistics services required during the construction of the Oluvil Port Project in Sri Lanka. FPS Sri Lanka is a member of the Famous Pacific Shipping Group, the fast expanding Asia-based NVOCC and freight services supplier, and will provide a complete package of freight forwarding services in connection with this appointment.

Famous Pacific Shipping (FPS) Group (www.fps-group.net) has been accepted as a member of the Household Goods Forwarders Association of America, Inc (HHGFAA). Commenting on the development, Iskandar Zulkarnain, Chairman of PT. FPS Indonesia said: “We launched this subsidiary in Indonesia barely a year ago as a business dedicated to household removal and personal relocation services. Economic development in Asia has seen a dramatic increase in the number of expats relocating throughout the region, many of whom require such services.

Famous Pacific Shipping, the fast-expanding Asia-based NVOCC and freight services provider, now offers weekly oceanfreight consolidation services from Hong Kong to a key central European gateway. The service, to Odessa in the Ukraine, allow shippers to save time and money as it prevents shipments from having to travel much further to gateway ports in northern Europe, such as Hamburg, Rotterdam or Gydnia, to reach key central and eastern European destinations

Famous Pacific Shipping (FPS) Rotterdam has beefed up its South American oceanfreight connections with the launch of a new fortnightly consolidation service to Cartagena, Colombia. This service adds to FPS Rotterdam’s existing services to Santos, Buenos Aires, Callao, Valparaiso and Colon. This new direct fortnightly oceanfreight forwarding service between Rotterdam and Cartagena can handle FCL and LCL shipments and has been developed in connection with FPS Rotterdam’s new partner, MSL Colombia.

Famous Pacific Shipping (FPS), is following a programme of network expansion in established and emerging freight markets. Network developments in Australia, China and Europe are boosting the scale of the FPS Group's worldwide reach.

GAC Kuwait announces the opening of its latest branch at the cargo terminal of the Kuwait International Airport to enhance its services.

GAC-SMHI Weather Solutions’ new application, VisPer (Visualise Performance data), is set to strengthen the ability of ship owners and operators to optimise their vessels’ performances.

GAC Marine Logistics (GML) has opened a new office in Chennai, India to house its fast growing dedicated customer service team.

GAC Transfer Services S.A. and European STS service provider MariFlex have launched ’GAC Transfer Services – Powered by MariFlex‘ (GTSM) to provide a wider range of services and choice of ship-to-ship (STS) transfer locations across Europe, Asia, the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean.

Global shipping, logistics and marine services group GAC has announced the merger of its UK operations to better meet clients’ needs, effective 1 January 2010. Shipping services company GAC-OBC, with more than 20 offices throughout the UK, becomes GAC Shipping (UK) Ltd, alongside GAC Logistics (UK) Ltd, GAC’s UK freight forwarding arm.  In-house travel agency, GAC-OBC Business Travel, is rebranded as GAC Travel Ltd.

Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce awarded Port Everglades the International Business Leadership Award in the Joint Venture category at an awards ceremony. Port Everglades in Broward County and Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. headquartered in Miami-Dade County formed a joint venture that benefits businesses throughout the tri-county area and beyond. The two organizations developed a strategic alliance that resulted in the world's largest cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas, homeporting at Port Everglades year-round in a new $75 million cruise terminal.

Gulf Marine Maintenance and Offshore Service Company (GMMOS), a leading UAE based provider of marine services to the offshore oil and gas industry, has secured a US$100 million term loan facility from Standard Chartered Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank to refinance existing debt and fund acquisitions in the offshore supply vessel (OSV) sector, with a focus on the GCC and South East Asia markets.

Gulf Energy Maritime (GEM), the Middle East's largest independent commercial product tanker operator, has expanded its fast growing fleet by inducting six new vessels in raising the fleet strength to 17 --- a new record and milestone in its relatively young history. GEM received its last vessel, named Gulf Crystal, the fourth 75,000 dwt Panamax vessel from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) - South Korea’s biggest ship builder.

GAC Group (GAC), a leading global shipping and logistics provider, has inked a new agreement with ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) to extend its broadcast sponsorship of the world's most popular domestic Cup competition, the FA Cup, for the next two seasons until 2011. Commanding a viewership of some 47 million across Asia, the FA Cup is one of ESS' premier football properties which is also delivered to audiences exclusively across ESS' digital media platforms including www.espnstar.com, www.espnstar.com.cn, www.espnstar.com.tw and mobileESPN.

GAC has won the coveted "Transport/Logistics/Freight Award" at the 2008 Seatrade Middle East and Indian Subcontinent (MEIS) Awards, the premier awards event for the region's shipping industry. It is the second year in a row that the Award has gone to GAC.

Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF), comprising global organisations from more than 50 countries who use the shipping industry for their freight transportation needs,, will convene its first conference in Dubai on November 3 and 4, 2009. It will focus on the challenges facing shippers globally, the global solutions to assist the industry emerge stronger and more resilient in the future, and the impact locally on industry, according to a GSF statement.

GAC Netherlands Ltd has opened a Logistics and Maritime Service Centre to increase efficiency, improve customer services and bring its ship spares logistics and freight forwarding operations under one roof at a new 6,500 square metre office and warehouse complex in Pernis, Rotterdam. Europe’s busiest port and the 4th largest in the world, Rotterdam covers 10,500 hectares and is 40 kilometres in length. GAC Netherlands’ new premises are strategically located at the heart of the port, in the Distriport Benelux area, enabling it to take full advantage of nearby motorway connections and harbours, with direct waterway and railway connections. The new facility is headed by Managing Director Ries Hoogenboezem, previously MD of GAC-OBC Netherlands, with offices in Rotterdam and Vlissingen (Flushing).

Gulf Logistics and Naval Support LLC (GLNS), a joint venture between Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) and BVT Surface Fleet, has been formed in the United Arab Emirates to provide world class naval support services for customers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Region, Egypt and Jordan.

GAC has bagged the 'Best Logistics Service Provider (BLSP) Award - Perishable Logistics' at the prestigious Third Annual Middle East Logistics Awards (MELA).The 3rd MELA Awards, organised by the Media One Group, brings together the region's key logistics industry players as they set benchmarks for performance excellence. The Awards also recognise the industry's best practices and stellar performers who have made an impact on the Middle East logistics industry through their valuable contributions.

GAC was a three-time winner at the 3rd Annual Supply Chain & Transport Awards. The company received the coveted ‘Outstanding Achievement of the Year’, ‘3PL Provider of the Year” and ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ titles at the premier awards event for the Middle East logistics industry Organised by the prominent supply chain and transportation publications of ITP.

GAC was a three-time winner at the 3rd Annual Supply Chain & Transport Awards. The company received the coveted ‘Outstanding Achievement of the Year’, ‘3PL Provider of the Year” and ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ titles at the premier awards event for the Middle East logistics industry Organised by the prominent supply chain and transportation publications of ITP, the largest business and consumer magazine publisher in the Middle East, the Awards are given in recognition of industry leaders and newcomers that have made a significant contribution to the development of the region’s supply chain sector by investing in technology, implementing winning strategies and investing in time and resources to ensure that the regional industry meets and exceeds international standards.

Grand Port Maritime du Havre was adopted by the Supervisory Board. The analysis of present trades and their prospects enabled the GPMH to define the special efforts to be made on container, fuel products and ro-ro traffic. Containers constitute the re-asserted development line. In a very competitive environment which remains promising despite the present economic situation, the port of Le Havre has the ambition to double container traffic (6 million TEU -Twenty-foot equivalent Unit – containers in 2020) and to increase its market share in the North-European range up to 9 % in 2015.

GAC Marine Logistics (GML) has successfully completed a complex ships spares movement involving a 7.5-metre diameter, 28-ton propeller from Kobe, Japan, and 9-metre long, 13-ton shaft from Busan, South Korea, for Greece-based ship operator Atlantic Bulk Carriers Management (ABC). GML was entrusted with the entire operation, from receiving the propeller and shaft from the suppliers’ doors at their separate points of origin, through to fitting the shaft to the propeller before placing them in long-term storage at its dedicated warehouse in Singapore.

Grand Alliance members Hapag-Lloyd, Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) and Zim Integrated Shipping Services have agreed to cooperate on the service from South China to US East Coast via the Panama Canal.

Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has been awarded a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant. The $250,000 award will retrofit GPA-owned equipment with devices that reduce air emissions.

GAC Group (GAC) announced organisational changes to optimise its resources in Russia and better serve the country's fast growing offshore sector. This strategic move comes in response to customer needs within the shipping, logistics and marine services industries that GAC serves.

Hapag-Lloyd will apply a general rate increase on all cargo moving on its services from the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East to South America East Coast. Effective Aug. 15, the planned increase will be $500 per 20-foot equivalent unit.

Hongkong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics Limited (HAFFA) Chairman, Mr. Peter Wong, emphasised the industry’s collective resilience in facing the challenges posed to the logistics sector last year, and outlined forward-thinking opportunities that lay ahead during the Association’s Annual Spring Dinner held at the Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre.

Hapag-Lloyd (HL), Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) announced they will add a direct Vietnam call at Cai Mep deepwater port to their South China Sea Japan Express (SCX) service, from May 2010. This additional link is a further improvement of the Grand Alliance service network.

Hamburg Süd is expanding its services this year between the U.S. West Coast and destinations as far apart as Australasia and North Europe.

Havre port trade in 2009, with provisional traffic figures of 74 million tonnes, bunkering and ship stores included, that is – 8.5 % against the year 2008.

Hapag-Lloyd (HL), Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), have agreed to a Winter Program to their US West Coast services. The service adjustments are intended to take effect as from end of December, 2009 and will continue at least throughout the winter period.  The Central China Express (CCX) service will be temporary replaced by a combined service with the Northwest Express (NWX) service. In the newly combined loop, the Grand Alliance will provide total six 6,200 to 7,600 TEU size range vessels.

Hapag-Lloyd, Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) announced their Winter Program for Asia-Europe services, with effect from December 28, 2009. Four of the GA's current Asia-Europe services, EU1, EU2, EU3, and EU4, will be temporarily adjusted into three weekly services, renamed Loop A, B and C. The service changes have been made to ensure continuation of the service network by adjusting capacity to the seasonal demand of our customers.

Hyundai Heavy Industries, South Korean shipbuilder has started building an ice-class tanker with deadweight of 104,000 metric tons for the Primorsk Shipping Corporation (PRISCO). The vessel is the last of a group of six giant tankers to be built for PRISCO by the Korean firm, the world's largest shipbuilder. The Russian firm is based in the Far East port city of Vladivostok. The tanker will be ready for use in June 2009 alongside two previously manufactured ships of the series, now in service delivering crude oil and oil products to Pacific Rim countries. PRISCO currently has 19 tankers with aggregate deadweight of around 1.3 mln tons. By 2010, the company plans to double the figure.

Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) and Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Hamburg (WSD) [Hamburg Water and Navigation Office], the two project developers involved, have applied to the planning authorities for a reconsideration of their revised plans for the deepening of the Elbe channel. The modified documents will be available for public inspection in districts bordering both sides of the Elbe from 7 October to 6 November 2008. Objections and position statements in relation to the proposals can be submitted up to 20 November 2008. This marks the beginning of the next important phase of the proceedings.

Hamburg Süd, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd announced the launch of a new direct service on the route between the East Coast of South America and North Europe. As of August 6th 2009, the lines provide a joint weekly service of 2 loops, replacing their respective SAFRAN/SAEC services.

Hapag-Lloyd has agreed to sell its stake in a Hamburg container terminal to help secure the company’s long-term future. Hapag-Lloyd’s 25.1% stake in Container-Terminal Altenwerder will be sold to a special-purpose company formed by the shipping line’s owners - Albert Ballin and leisure and shipping group Tui – for €315m (US$445.5m).

Hamburg involved in new joint service of China Shipping and Evergreen Line The handling of the XIN HONG KONG at the Eurogate Container Terminal Hamburg (CTH) marked the start of a new weekly container line service that links northern Europe with the Far East. Under the auspices of the new joint service the Chinese company China Shipping Container Line (CSCL) and the Taiwan-based Evergreen Line are cooperating in these waters for the first time.

Hanjin Shipping is increasing freight rates in its Asia-Mediterranean/North Europe trades beginning June 1.As of June 1, the rate for all types of freight, including dry, reefer and special, west bound to major ports in the Far East/China/South East Asia-Mediterranean trade will increase by $250 per TEU and $500 per FEU, Hanjin said. As of July 1, rates will increase $100 per TEU and $200 per FEU for all types of freight west bound to major ports in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ceylon. West bound freight for ports in the Far East, China and South East Asia will go up another $300 per TEU and $600 per FEU, Hanjin said.

Hapag-Lloyd, Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) have agreed to merge the SCX (South China Sea Express) and the JCX (Japan China Express) into a single loop. The new service will take effect from May 25, 2009, sailing from Thailand. Grand Alliance customers will be offered the same port coverage options under the new service.

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics has appointed LogiOne as its partner in the east African state of Rwanda. The Rwandan firm will handle Hellmann’s imports and exports in the country and across other parts of east Africa. It currently has a 300sq metre storage facility in the country’s capital, Kigali, and a fleet of trucks.

Hamburg Marketing, HWF Hamburg Business Development Corporation, Hamburg Marketing GmbH and the Hamburg Port Authority, together with the companies POLZUG Intermodal GmbH, TFG Transfracht GmbH and HHLA AG, a delegation of high-ranking representatives of Chinese logistics firms and port companies visited the Elbe metropolis from 7 to 11 May, to exchange ideas on port and logistics issues with Hamburg’s captains of industry and representatives of the authorities.This was followed by a visit to the transport logistic 2009 trade fair in Munich. The trading partnership between Hamburg and China has a tradition that goes back for centuries. For more than 200 years the Middle Kingdom has been benefiting from Hamburg’s exceptional situation in economic and geographical terms and from the logistics infrastructure that it offers as the second biggest German city. Above all, the Port of Hamburg is the biggest and most important transshipment centre in Europe for the seagoing foreign trade of the People’s Republic. One in three containers dispatched or destined for a Chinese port is now being handled at the container terminals of the Port.

Hapag-Lloyd is increasing rates for services from the Far East to Northern Europe and the western Mediterranean by $500 per TEU with effect from June 15th 2009. The increase will be $150/TEU in the opposite direction. Rates for services between Asia and the eastern Mediterranean will be raised by $300/TEU as of August 1st. Hapag-Lloyd has also announced a Peak Season Surcharge of $150 per TEU for the period August 1st to October 31st.

Hapag-Lloyd boosted 2008 operating profit by 19 percent from a year ago but warned lower volumes and weaker freight rates will lead to a considerable decline in 2009 earnings.

Hapag-Lloyd announces rate increases on main container routes.The rate erosion for Far East services already apparent in 2008 has continued at the beginning of this year.

Hamburg's port business shows the flag at Transport Logistic 2009 in Munich Even in times of economic difficulty, Germany's biggest seaport makes a point of strengthening its market presence, and will be advertising the many and varied services it offers at Transport Logistic in Munich from 12 to 15 May 2009.

India's major ports registered an increase in cargo volumes carried in the four months from April to July 2010 inched 2.02% higher to 184.09 million mt, compared with 180.45 million mt a year earlier, The 12 ports -- Kolkata, Haldia, Paradip, Viskhapatnam, Ennore, Tuticorin, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Mumbai, JNPT and Kandla handled 139.23 million mt over April-June, up 1.92% from 136.60 million mt in the same period a year ago.

India's federal government plans to sell a stake in state-run Shipping Corp. Of India Ltd. and trading agency MMTC Ltd. through public offerings, junior Finance Minister, Namo Narain Meena, said.Mr. Meena, however, didn't say how much of a stake the government aims to sell in the two firms. India's government aims to raise 400 billion rupees ($8.69 billion) through the sale of stakes in state-run firms in the current fiscal year that started in April.

Indian shipping companies are lobbying for a “first right of refusal” in carrying crude oil imported by public sector oil companies. The board of Indian National Shipowners Association or INSA, decided to submit to the Shipping Ministry a scheme to increase the member lines' share in the oil cargo. INSA is the apex industry body representing about 90 per cent of Indian tonnage. Currently, Indian ships carry only 36 per cent of imported crude oil. According to a shipping company official, the Association already had informal discussions with the Ministry and the scheme is being worked out at its instance.

INTTRA, a leading global provider of e-commerce solutions has announced the expansion of its presence in Asia, opening a development centre in China and a new office in Japan.

International Shipping Federation, the Association of Port Health Authorities UK,  and the Hamburg Port Health Center, Institute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine, Germany have joined together to express their concerns on public health interventions practiced at seaports during the pandemic Influenza (H1N1) 2009.

International shipping industry – which transports about 90% of world trade - is committed to playing its part in reducing its emissions and mitigating climate change. BIMCO (and its President Robert Lorenz-Meyer) and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) hosted a special side event for participants at the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP 15).  Senior shipowners’ representatives explained current efforts to further improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions from ships, using new technology and operational measures.The event was also supported by the shipping industry’s global regulator, the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO), and INTERTANKO.

Indian shipping will join  the long list of industry where Government of India will soon give approval for FDI. Indian shipping is all set to get its first foreign direct investment (FDI) with the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) expected to give its green signal this week to flag in a ship belonging to the Indian subsidiary of Malaysian company AET Tanker Holdings Sdn Bhd. DGS, which has been reviewing the case for nearly three months, will issue the necessary permissions. With this, AET will be the first company to step in after the country opened its doors to 100% FDI in shipping nine years ago. The parent company, having its operational headquarters in London and regional centres in Singapore, Houston and Kuala Lumpur, is an established seaborne transportation solutions provider to petroleum industry. Its fleet transports crude oil across the globe. Apart from its headquarters at Gurgaon, the company has regional offices in Chennai and Mumbai. AET is understood to bring six tankers under the Indian flag to carry petroleum products along the country’s coast.

International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) acknowledges the progress made by governments, reflected in the 'Copenhagen Accord', at the recent UN Conference in Copenhagen.  However, ICS is disappointed that the text of the Accord is silent on the treatment of international shipping in the delivery of further CO2 emission reductions, to which the industry remains firmly committed. 

Indian Government will soon give approval for FDI for Indian shipping industy. The Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) is expected to give its green signal shortly to flag in a ship belonging to the Indian subsidiary of Malaysian company AET Tanker Holdings Sdn Bhd. DGS, which has been reviewing the case for nearly three months, will issue the necessary permissions.  With this, AET will be the first company to step in after the country opened its doors to 100% FDI in shipping nine years ago. The parent company, having its operational headquarters in London and regional centres in Singapore, Houston and Kuala Lumpur, is an established seaborne transportation solutions provider to petroleum industry. Its fleet transports crude oil across the globe. Apart from its headquarters at Gurgaon, the company has regional offices in Chennai and Mumbai. AET is understood to bring six tankers under the Indian flag to carry petroleum products along the country’s coast.

India Shipping Summit, held at Grand Hyatt Mumbai, addressed pivotal themes with both domestic and global perspectives. In focus were India's future as a global maritime player, finance to help it enter a new era, infrastructure opportunities, and the offshore oil and gas markets.

International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Shipping Federation (ISF) are delighted that the master and chief officer of the 'Hebei Spirit' will finally be allowed to return home to their families following a decision by the Korean courts that they were innocent of the charge of vessel destruction during the oil spill in 2007, when a floating crane barge collided with their oil tanker. However, ICS and ISF are disappointed that the charge of causing pollution was not overturned and the innocent verdict of the Court of First Instance reinstated. More generally, ICS and ISF remain very concerned about the impact on serving officers of cases where seafarers have been imprisoned or detained for lengthy periods following maritime incidents, contrary to the principles in the MARPOL and Law of the Sea Conventions.

India International Maritime Logistics 2009 - expo, conference and awards which saw a grand commencement at WTC India was attended by some of the illustrious personalities from the maritime sector. Under immense pressure due to the economic meltdown, IIML 09 galvanized the maritime community into strongly presenting the issues obstructing growth of strong and vibrant maritime sector, a key condition for the growth of country’s economy.“Almost all developed countries owe their growth to maritime sector” asserted Mr A.P.V.N Sarma. “The objective of sustaining growth momentum, the government has allowed 100% foreign direct investment in shipping and ports sector,” he said.

INTTRA, the leading e-commerce platform for the ocean freight industry, has entered into long-term agreements with Maersk Line, MSC, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and Hamburg Sud for e-commerce and professional services worth more than $100 million over the next three years.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust’s (JNPT) will be corporatised this year. Ship­ping ministry has dusted up the 10-year-old plan and put it on fast track. After JNPT, it will be Mormugao and Tu­ticorin port trusts that will go the corporate way.“We have to corporatise three ports this financial year. The PMO has already given us directions. Though no final call has been taken on Goa (Mormugao) and Tuticorin, these are the ports most likely to be taken up,” Rakesh Srivastava, joi­nt secretary (ports), said. Corporatisation of these port trusts will reduce bur­eaucracy and help them take decisions without min­istry’s interference. It wo­u­ld also allow ports better market flexibility in terms of raising money.“The corporatisation would bring greater flexib­ility. The ports can decide their tariff. Department of public enterprises (DPE) will choose the board of the directors. The government would get dividends also, which is not the case with a trust,” he said.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), one of the most modern ports in Indiahas added a feather to its cap by getting the prestigious ISO 27001:2005 certification.The Information Security Management System of JNPT has been assessed and approved in accordance with the requirements of the ISO 27001:2005 standards for Protecting Information and related Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure for providing seaport facilities, by Indian Register Quality Systems (IRQS) accredited by RvA, Netherlands

JOC Sailings (www.jocsailings.com), a division of United Business Media Global Trade (UBM GT) and a leader in providing point-to-point sailing schedules and business news for the maritime industry, has announced the joint launch of the PANYNJ custom micro-site - an online resource for critical and timely information in relationship to doing business within this key region.

Jabel Ali Free Zone, one of the biggest developers and operators of economic zones and business parks, will set up a free trade warehousing zone (FTWZ) at Raigad, a fast developing industrial area about150 kms south of Mumbai, in Maharashtra. FTWZ would position India as an international centre for trading, according to a senior official of the Indian government.

Kolkata Port Trust will set up two container terminals ~ one at Diamond Harbour and another at Shalukhali , Haldia port (II) to increase the business of both the ports. Railway connectivity will also be set up with the two container terminals.

Kolkata Port Trust will opt for the PPP (public-private partnership) model for construction of two barge jetties on the river front at Haldia dock, thus, abandoning its earlier plan to have them constructed departmentally. A proposal relating to the revision of the plan will be shortly placed before the Board of Trustees for approval. Unlike several other major ports, Kolkata port does not have any PPP project in hand. The plan to have container terminals at Diamond Harbour through the PPP route having run into rough weather due to the non-availability of land, the shipping ministry suggested the port authorities to take up the Haldia barge jetty projects for PPP.

Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard (a part of MNP Group) has launched a tanker of the project 19619 for Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (CASPAR). The vessel was named “Zangezur”. The company signed a contract with CASPAR to build 13 000-tonnes tanker in January 2008. The tanker is designed for the transportation of crude oil and oil products. Specifications: length 150 m, width 17.30 m, hull height 10.5 m, deadweight over 13 000 tonnes.

Khalifa bin Salman Port (KBSP) the General Organisation of Sea Ports (GOP) has unveiled plans to host a multi-storey car park and a service area, located within the vicinity of the Khalifa bin Salman Port, providing customs-free storage, warehousing and commercial facilities to interested companies. Soon, the GOP will announce the commencement of the auction procedure for potential investors to bid for a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) concession agreement. The duration of the concession agreement will be 25 years for the construction and operation of both the multi-storey car park and the planned service area. The detailed design and drawings required for construction are now complete and will be provided to interested potential developers.

K Line and TSK are launching a new joint service between Japan and Jakarta by merging two existing services into one. K Line and TSK said they will merge the two services “in response to the ongoing financial crisis that has drastically reduced cargo volume for this sector”.Four ships – two provided by TSK and two by K Line - of around 1,700teu will be deployed on the weekly service, which has a rotation of Osaka, Shimizu, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe, Keelung, Manila, Singapore, Port Klang, Jakarta, Singapore, Manila, Osaka.

Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), in eastern India, proposes to set up a series of terminals around its Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), on the west bank of the Hooghly river, to enable handling of barges and large ships.

Le Havre port reform has reached a new important step with the signing of a ‘method agreement’ between the Board and the CGT trade union of the Port of Le Havre Authority. This agreement provides guarantees in terms of reliability on the port terminals. In line with the recent completion of the sale of the gantry cranes, the signing of a ‘method agreement’ is a significant step in the local implementation of the French port reform.

Le Havre remains, by far, the leading port on the  French container market owing to the reasserted support of its partners which, despite everything, progressed in a chaotic environment, in the course of the year 2009. Dry bulk trade accounted for 3.9 million tonnes in 2009 against 4.7 Mt last year. With 2.2 Mt, coal fell by 11 % while the other dry bulks strongly decreased with 1.6 Mt against 2.2. Mt in 2008. Container trade dropped by 11 % with 22.1 Mt in 2009 against 24.9 Mt in 2008. In terms of number of units handled, this corresponds to a volume of 2.2 million TEU containers (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units), a 10 % fall compared with 2008. This figure illustrates good resistance compared with the results of the other main ports of the North-European range, which can exceed – 20 %.

Le Havre port trade, traffic reached 55.4 million tonnes as at end of September 2009 (provisional figures, bunkering and ship stores included).Liquid bulk traffic is slightly down compared to the same period in 2008 with 34.3 Mt handled. Within this trade category, the volume of crude oil handled on the sites of Le Havre and Antifer accounts for the 7/10th of the tonnage and refined products for around 25 %. The remaining goods are hydrocarbon gas and miscellaneous liquid bulks, which are the only ones to have risen. Dry bulks, all commodities put together, are down with a total traffic of 3.0 million tons handled during the first nine months of the year 2009. As regards container traffic which is strongly related to consumption goods, it suffered a significant drop with a tonnage of 16.3 Mt after the first nine months of the year 2009 against 18.0 Mt over the corresponding period in 2008. Expressed in number of units handled on all Le Havre port terminals, this means 1.65 million  Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEU) against 1.80 million as at end of September 2008. In all, more than 4,744 ship calls have been recorded at the port of Le Havre since the beginning of the year, that is a number equivalent to that of 2008 and the same number of destinations served within the same frequencies. Finally, the number of passengers using the cross-Channel services to and from the Ocean Gateway (Porte Océane) decreased by 8.2 % with 268,000 passengers transported against 292,000 as at end of September 2008.

Lloyd's Register Asia opened its first dedicated marine surveyor training centre in Shanghai.The Maritime Surveyor Training Institute (MSTI) represents more than an US$8 million investment for the organisation in the first five years of operations, during which time 200 newly trained surveyors are expected to graduate from the program.

Maersk has shown in its interim report for 2010 an increase in revenue by 20%, primarily as a result of higher freight rates and volumes for the Group's container shipping activities as well as higher oil prices. The profit for the period was USD 2.5 billion compared to a loss of USD 0.5 billion in the same period of 2009.

Mumbai port registered a dip in  cargo volumes to 51.8 million tonnes in 2009, compared with 57 million tonnes in 2008. Revenues more than halved to 1.23 billion rupees (Dh96.7 million) from 2.63bn rupees the year earlier. Across India’s 12 major ports, cargo traffic slowed by 6 per cent as international trade slumped, according to the Indian Ports Association.But this year business is looking up. At the Mumbai port, one of India’s busiest ports, with a natural deepwater harbour, traffic is up. Between April and last month, cargo traffic climbed to 14.23m tonnes, a 10.3 per cent growth compared with same period last year.

Ministry of Shipping, Govt of India says that as many as 50 projects have been completed under the National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP) as on March 31, 2010 in the port sector, at a cost of 1.1 bn USD. In addition, 74 projects are under progress, envisaging an investment of 3.7bn USD.

Ministry of Shipping (MoS), Government of India, has directed all Major Ports to send a detailed report of dangerous and inflammable goods lying in their port areas. The move has been triggered by the unfortunate chlorine gas leakage case in Mumbai Port. MoS has sought exact and minute details on the name and classification of goods, quantity and date since which it has been lying in the port, reasons and the action taken by the Port Authority concerned in each case. The report is to be submitted to the Ministry by July 21.

Muirfield (flying the flag of the Marshall Islands) a container carrier “with the capacity of 540 TEU called at Vanino port. The ship is in time-charter. Initially, one vessel will call at the port once in 14 days. In future, the second vessel will be deployed switching to a weekly service.  The cargo includes equipment, plastics, bathroom and lavatory equipment, electronics. Cargo is intended for the Far Eastern Region (including transit to Magadan and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski) and other regional of the Russian Federation.

Moody's Investors Service lowered its  Probability of Default ("PDR") and senior unsecured ratings of General  Maritime Corporation ("GenMar"); Probability of Default to B2 from B1,  senior unsecured to Caa1 from B3. Moody's also confirmed the B1 Corporate  Family rating ("CFR") and the SGL-3 Speculative Grade Liquidity rating. The outlook is stable. This rating action concludes the review for  downgrade initiated on June 10, 2010 upon GenMar's announcement that it  reached an agreement with Metrostar Management Corporation ("Metrostar") to purchase seven tankers including five VLCCs ("Very Large Crude Carriers") for $620 million.

Marseilles Fos cargo total throughput of almost 21.5 million tonnes in the first quarter, a 3% increase on January-March last year. Container volumes rose 17% to 245,029 TEU, marked by a 31% jump to 63,933 TEU in the Marseilles harbour area’s mainly intra-Mediterranean traffic.

Maersk Line and Lloyd's Register will team up in a two year program to test the suitability of biodiesel for use in powering marine engines. The feasibility study, funded in part by the Dutch government, will take place on board the Maersk Line container ship, Maersk Kalmar. Collaborators in the project are Maersk Line, Maersk Tankers, Maersk Supply Service, Maersk Drilling, Maersk Ship Management, Lloyd’s Register’s Strategic Research Group, and a consortium of Dutch subcontractors. Maersk Maritime Technology will coordinate the project. sing fatty acid methyl esters – a biodiesel product known as FAME -- the tests will use a blend of between 5 percent and 7 percent biodiesel to examine a long list of potential problems.

Maersk Line launches third Far East service from Hamburg .The container ship MAERSK SYDNEY called at the Port of Hamburg for the first time as part of the Maersk Line’s expanded AE-10 scheduled liner service.This liner service links the ports of Shenzhen (Dachan Bay), Ningbo, Shanghai, Kaohsiung, Shenzhen (Yantian), Hong Kong and Tanjung Pelepas with continental Europe. A recent addition is the inclusion of Hamburg as a port of call for the AE-10 service. The service also calls the Baltic Sea ports of Arhus, Gothenburg and Gdansk. Europe’s most important seaport for cargo from and to the Far East and China is already included in the rotation of the AE-1 service. The AE-10 and AE-1 services, as well as the third Maersk Far East service AE-2 are cleared at the Eurogate Container Terminal Hamburg (CTH).

Mekong Waterway Open Up between Cambodia and Vietnam. Cambodia and Viet Nam agreed to reduce the official restrictions of cross-border navigation on Mekong waterways to allow freedom of navigation on the river between the two countries.

Mumbai port said container handling at the existing terminal has improved after it transferred operations to its new private terminal operator, Indira Container Terminal Pvt. Ltd. Indira, a joint venture between Gammon India and Dragados SPL of Spain, recently took over operations at the terminal and entered a 30-year concession agreement with the port authority to develop a $300-million offshore container terminal.

Maersk AE-1 and AE-8 services change over to the other circuit. Hamburg is now included for the first time as a port of call for the AE-8 service. The AE-1 was putting in at Hamburg already. With the loading and unloading of the first AE-8 ship in Hamburg, the MAERSK SARNIA, Europe's most significant seaport for shipping to the Far East and China is now also a port of call for this important service. To mark the occasion of the first arrival in Hamburg of the AE-8, Captain Fritz-Wilhelm Jensen of the Hamburg Port Authority and Bengt van Beuningen of Port of Hamburg Marketing handed over to the captain of the MAERSK SARNIA Kevin C. Riddick, together with Dennis Kuhlmann and Patrick Schwarz of the Maersk Shipping Line, the Admiralty Coat of Arms of the Port of Hamburg. Built at the shipyard of Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries

Maersk Line will roll out its new method for calculating fuel surcharges to the Far East/Europe, Intra-Europe, and Europe/Middle East & South Asia trades. Maersk began phasing in the new fuel system in March with all trades scheduled to be online by Jan. 1, except for the Asia/Middle East, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka trade, which will begin July 1, 2009.

Maersk Line said it will offer its container chassis to drayage firms, ocean carriers, marine terminals and railroads for use throughout the country, a move company officials said will reduce delays for truck drivers and decrease fuel consumption and carbon emissions. The first pool of 5,000 chassis will be offered at the Port of New York and New Jersey, starting in the third quarter, through a new division called Direct ChassisLink.

MISC Berhad (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) shipping line has informed the partners in the Grand Alliance that it will withdraw from services between Europe (incl. Mediterranean) and the Far East with effect from January 1st 2010. MISC does not operate with the Grand Alliance on the Transpacific or Transatlantic trades. “We greatly regret that MISC as a founding member of the Grand Alliance is withdrawing, but respect its decision,” commented the partner lines Hapag-Lloyd, OOCL and NYK.The withdrawal of MISC will not affect sailing frequencies, transit times or service structures.

Maersk Line will delay the general rate increase on the North America to Mediterranean and North Africa trade. The hike will be effective July 1, to coincide with a change in bunker adjustment factor. The increase reflects market shortages in some regions and delays onshore, as well as tightening of available ocean capacity, said Maersk. The filed increase is $120 per 20-foot container and $200 per 40-foot container or high cube, 45-foot container. The increase applies from all origin points in the United States and Canada to all destinations in the Mediterranean and North Africa. The increase applies to dry cargo only. Maersk said it will communicate the new amounts of the BAF surcharge separately.

Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Aa2 ratings to the Port of Seattle's First Lien Revenue Bonds Series 2009A, B-1 & B-2, expected to total $21.3 million, $211 million, and $50 million, respectively. At this time we are also affirming the ratings on the port's other outstanding revenue bonds including the Aa2 First Lien Revenue Bonds, Aa3 Intermediate Lien Revenue Bonds, A1 Subordinate Lien Revenue Bonds, A2 Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) Revenue Bonds, and A3 Fuel System Special Facility Bonds. The port's ratings are based on strong and diversified revenues from the airport, seaport, and real estate divisions which serve as critical components to the infrastructure of the large and economically strong local population.

Maersk Line announced sweeping changes in the port coverage from Asia to North Europe, where it focues on Felixstowe and Le Havre, and from Asia to the Mediterranean, where it has entered two new vessel-sharing agreements with CMA CGM. The changes do not cut capacity but are designed instead to reduce costs by nailing down volume discounts at the two north Europe ports and by sharing larger and more economic vessels with CMA CGM. The Danish carrier recently signed a new long-term agreement with the Port of Felixstowe that gives it discounts based on guaranteed volumes, said Philip Damas, division director of Drewry Supply Chain Advisors in London. By dropping Southampton from the rotation of its AE1 service, it will meet those volume commitments, Damas said. In addition, Felixstowe also has a new rail service that can handle high-cube containers, which Southampton “is struggling to handle.”The carrier is also dropping calls at Le Havre by its AE1 service, and will add them instead to its AE10 service, which will make direct calls from China at the French port.

Maersk Line has made enhancements to our services, demonstrating our commitment to the North America to Middle East & Indian Subcontinent trade at a time when other carriers are either curtailing their coverage, reducing their service options, or altogether exiting the trade.

Maersk Line announced its Singapore-based subsidiary, MCC Transport, is launching a new intra-Asia service, the Siam Java Express (IA-3), that will connect Thailand directly with Indonesia.

Mangalore Port on India's western coast has registered a growth of about three per cent in cargo handling in the first nine months of the current financial year, following increased handling of project cargo, fertiliser, iron ore fines, lime stone and cement, among others. The port is poised for a big increase in cargo handling in view of increased movement of cargo from the hinterland. According to a spokesman of the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), the port handled 27.71 million tonnes of cargo from April to December, 2008, as against 26.91 million tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. Till the end of December in the current fiscal, the port handled 22,752 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers as against 15,437 TEUs in the corresponding period of the previous year. The railway-bound cargo during this period was nearly 4.62 million tonnes as against 4.31 million tonnes during the same period in the previous year.

Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), in Karnataka, south India, which has capacity to handle 43.50 million tonne of cargo is planning to increase it to 66 million tonne by the end of the 2011-12.NMPT is planning to construct an oil jetty and a dedicated berth for thermal coal, among others at the port

NYK Line said the carrier is seeing stronger trans-Pacific demand than expected at the start of the year but will wait several weeks before deciding whether to restore capacity there. "The demand right now is a little more than we had planned for,” Peter Keller, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NYK Line (Americas), said at the annual National Retail Federation meeting in New York.

Nippon Yusen KK, has teamed with Nippon Oil Corporation to develop solar panel energy capable of generating 40 kilowatts of available electricity on a 60,000 ton cargo ship for Toyota Motor Corporation. Solar panels aren't new on ocean-going ships. Until now they've only been used for crew cabins and living quarters. This system is projected to reduce diesel fuel consumption by up to 6.5% and CO2 emissions by 1 or 2%. The average cargo ship gets about .008 miles per gallon meaning it's burning about 120 gallons of bunker fuel per mile.

NYK Logistics has won a new two-year contract with Honda UK Manufacturing to provide delivery and collection between its 53 suppliers and five UK sites. NYK Logistics said it will introduce new IT systems to reduce the amount of non-value-added activity and resources required to manage UK collection.

NKG Kala Hamburg has taken on full responsibility for raw coffee logistics on behalf of three Sara Lee roasting houses in Europe. Working closely together in the year 2008, the companies Decotrade, of Zug in Switzerland, and NKG Kala Hamburg worked out a plan for the optimisation of warehousing operations for three Sara Lee roasting houses in northern and eastern Europe. This involved a nine-month planning phase and the scheduling of numerous workshops. The concept has now to a large extent been realised in practice.

NVOCC and freight services supplier, Famous Pacific Shipping (FPS), is following a programme of network expansion in established and emerging freight markets. Network developments in Australia, China and Europe are boosting the scale of the FPS Group's worldwide reach.

Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. reported results for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 ended March 31, 2010. For the quarter ended March 31, 2010, the Company reported TCE revenues of $229.9 million, a 21% decline from $292.8 million in 2009.

Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. a market leader in providing energy transportation services, announced it has entered into a settlement agreement with American Shipping Company ASA (“AMSC”), Aker Philadelphia Shipyard ASA, and Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc. (“APSI”), (collectively “Aker”) that settles all outstanding commercial disputes between OSG and Aker and provides for the dismissal with prejudice of all the claims in the arbitration among the parties.

Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. announced that approximately 5,656,757 common units (the “Units”) of OSG America L.P. “OSG America” or the “Partnership”; including those Units delivered through notices of guaranteed delivery, were validly tendered and accepted for purchase in the tender offer by its wholly owned subsidiary, OSG Bulk Ships, Inc. (“OSG Bulk”). OSG Bulk has made payment to BNY Mellon Shareowner Services, which is acting as the Depositary in connection with the tender offer, for the accepted Units.

Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. a market leader providing global energy transportation services, together with Euronav NV (EURONEXT BRUSSELS: EURN) announced a $500 million senior secured term loan to finance the acquisition of TI Asia and TI Africa by joint venture companies owned equally by Euronav and OSG and the conversion of the ships into FSO (Floating Storage Offloading) service vessels. The vessels are scheduled to deliver to Maersk Oil Qatar on the Al Shaheen field offshore Qatar and start operation respectively on July and September 2009.

Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. a market leader in providing energy transportation services, announced that its Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.4375 per share on the common stock outstanding, payable on November 24, 2009 to stockholders of record on November 9, 2009.

Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc., a market leader in providing energy transportation services, announced it has entered into a $389 million, 12-year secured facility with The Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank). The facility is the first financing arrangement that China Exim Bank has extended to a U.S. company. Borrowings under the facility will be used toward financing three VLCCs and two Aframax crude oil tankers constructed in China.

Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. a market leader in providing energy transportation services, announced that it has signed a nonbinding settlement proposal with American Shipping Company ASA (AMSC) that seeks to settle all outstanding commercial disagreements between the two companies. The proposal is intended to resolve certain liquidity issues previously disclosed by Aker Philadelphia Shipyard ASA (AKPS), for AKPS to continue its 12-ship newbuild program. All 12 vessels have been chartered out to OSG, seven of which have delivered and are trading in the Jones Act market.

Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. a market leader in providing energy transportation services, reported results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2009. For the quarter ended June 30, 2009, the Company reported time charter equivalent (TCE1) revenues of $248.4 million, a 36% decline from $386.1 million in 2008. The decline in TCE revenues was due to lower daily TCE rates earned by all of the Company’s international flag vessel classes offset by a 77 day increase in revenue days. Net loss attributable to the Company (Loss2) was $8.8 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, compared with net income attributable to the Company (Earnings2) of $86.9 million, or $2.81 per diluted share, in the same period a year ago.

OE waves, Inc. has been selected as a subcontractor to support Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors in support of a Science and Technology contract from the U.S. Army Research Development and Development Command's (RDECOM) Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC). The total value of the initial award to OEwaves is $1.5 million, with a potential total value of approximately $5 million. This activity is part of an RDECOM AMRDEC effort to develop and demonstrate critical technologies that bridge the gap between existing capabilities and the Army vision for future protection capabilities.

OE waves, Inc. has been selected as a subcontractor to support Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors in support of a Science and Technology contract from the U.S. Army Research Development and Development Command's (RDECOM) Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC). The total value of the initial award to OEwaves is $1.5 million, with a potential total value of approximately $5 million. This activity is part of an RDECOM AMRDEC effort to develop and demonstrate critical technologies that bridge the gap between existing capabilities and the Army vision for future protection capabilities.

Panama Canal Authority (ACP) released third quarter (Q3) operational metrics for fiscal year 2010. In Q3, Canal Waters Time (CWT), the average time it takes a vessel to transit the Canal (including waiting time for passage) for booked transits decreased. While total transits and net tonnage declined marginally, there was growth in some key segments. The metrics are based on operations from April through June 2010, the third quarter of the ACP's 2010 fiscal year, and are compared with Q3 of fiscal year 2009.

Port of Hamburg handled a total of 58.6 million tons of seafreight in the first half-year 2010. This comes up to a plus of 8.1 per cent compared to the previous year. Especially the strong growth of imports, which reached a total of 33.7 million tons, made for a higher-than-average growth by 12.3 per cent. Exports reached 24.9 million tons in the first half-year and, thus, increased by 2.9 per cent compared to the previous year.

Port of Seattle has seen revenue increases from its container, cruise, and grain businesses, according to its second quarter financial performance report. The report was presented to the Port of Seattle Commission, where each division provided financial data and background on revenue and expenditures. "The Port of Seattle is in sound financial shape," said Port CEO Tay Yoshitani. "Our lines of business are showing a healthy increase over last year, and we will continue to be accountable and fiscally responsible with public funds."

Port of Rotterdam, developed breakbulk  even stronger than reported earlier: + 21% instead of 18%. According to the most recent throughput figures for the first six months of 2010, to be presented tomorrow for all commodities, 3.3 million tonnes were handled. Incoming volume rose to 2.3 million tonnes (+23%) and 1 million tonnes (+17%) were loaded. The growth of throughput in Rotterdam is stronger than elsewhere. In 2009, Rotterdam ranked third in breakbulk and project cargo in the Hamburg-Le Havre Range, with 6 million tonnes. Antwerp (10.4 mt.) en Bremen (6.5 mt.) were one and two. The Port of Rotterdam Authority wants to improve this position, with steel, project cargo and refrigerated products as commercial spearheads .There are 21 terminals in the port area handling breakbulk exclusively or in considerable amounts. Together, they dispose of 250 hectares of terrain and almost 700,000 m2 of warehouses.

Port of Montréal was almost entirely shutdown due to a lock out by the Maritime Employers Association (MEA).  As of the morning of July 19 no containers were to be unloaded from ships at docks operated by the MEA until further notice.  The MEA ordered a lockout of about 850 longshoremen after mediation attempts failed with the Longshoremen's union, CUPE Local 375.

Port of Le Havre, has taken a new important step in the implementation of the port reform with the signature of all sales contracts for equipment concerning the container terminals.  Grand Port Maritime du Havre has just signed the last two sales contracts for container terminals : The first was signed on June 11th with the Société d’Equipement du Terminal de Normandie (SETN), the third party investing in TNMSC, who has acquired 2 Reggiane gantries.The second was signed on June 14th last, with Compagnie Nouvelle de Manutention Portuaire (CNMP) for the equipment of the Terminal de l’Atlantique. 

Port of New York and New Jersey announced the acquisition of additional prime waterfront property – the 98-acre Global Terminal on the Port Jersey peninsula in Jersey City and Bayonne.

Port of Hamburg reports total cargo-handling figures of 28.6 million tons for the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 4.6 per cent over the same period in the previous year. On the import side, Port of Hamburg Marketing – the marketing organisation of the Port of Hamburg – recorded cargo-handling figures of 16.7 million tons (+6.0 per cent). Exports via Hamburg also increased in comparison with the first quarter of 2009, with a total of 11.9 million tons (+2.7 per cent).

Port of Antwerp Container traffic surged 15.9 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, consolidating its position as Europe's second largest box hub. The Belgian port handled 2.013 million 20-foot equivalent units compared with 1.737 million TEUs in the first three months of 2009.

Port of Helsinki is awarded the ECC (European Cruise Council) with the Green Attitude Recognition in connection with the Seatrade Miami event. The recognition was granted as a result of excellent co-operation in the development of a new cruise ship wastewater collection system, and due to ECC’s consideration of the environment in all of its operations as well as tirelessly pursuing related co-operation.

Port of Rotterdam recorded increase goods handled. In the first quarter of this year, 107 million tonnes of goods were handled, 14% more than in the same period of  2009. Most types of goods were up: iron ore and scrap (+ 77%), other dry bulk (+ 32%), mineral oil products (+30%), containers (+21%), other liquid bulk (+ 7%), roll on/roll off (+8%). Throughput figures for agribulk (- 32%) and coal were down (-17%) and those for other general cargo and crude oil remained virtually unchanged.

PIL Pacific International Lines (Singapore) and Wan Hai Lines (Taiwan) have resumed operation of their FES scheduled container liner service from the Far East to northern Europe. The KOTA LAMBAI owned by Pacific International Lines was the first ship to call at the Port of Hamburg. Some 2,032 TEU (20-foot standard containers) were loaded and unloaded at the HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT). The second vessel to call at Hamburg as part of the service will be the WAN HAI 510, scheduled to arrive a week later.

Port of Marseille supervisory board has approved the grant of a right to Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), the world’s number one container terminal operator, to develop its future Fos 4XL container terminal. This decision confirms the conclusion of a call for proposals process launched was in February 2008, when the Port of Marseille Fos issued a tender call for the development of the new Fos 4XL container terminal. The Hong Kong based company showed an interest in Fos 4XL.

Port of Helsinki unitized cargo traffic  decreased by 21% in 2009 from the previous year, totalling a modest 8.6 million tonnes. The amount of cargo traffic, shipped both in containers and on wheels, decreased by 16%. 357,200 TEUs of containers passed through the Port while the number of trucks and trailers totalled 432,000. The number of passengers hit a record high with over 9 million passengers travelling on the scheduled routes: an increase of 1.2% compared to the previous year.

Port Canaveral prepares for the first arrival of Norwegian Sun this October, Norwegian Cruise Line has extended its commitment to Port Canaveral for an additional year of homeported sailings that will run through April 2012.  For the next two years from October until April, Norwegian Sun will sail alternating seven-day Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises departing on Saturdays, which will introduce Freestyle Cruising to Brevard County, Central Florida and Orlando. 

Port of Helsinki unitized cargo traffic decreased  by 21% in 2009 from the previous year, totalling a modest 8.6 million tonnes. The amount of cargo traffic shipped in containers decreased by 19% and the amount shipped on wheels decreased by 20%. 357,200 TEUs of containers passed through the Port while the number of trucks and trailers totalled 432,000.

Port of Hamburg Marketing Association presented the cargo-handling figures for 2009 at the annual Port of Hamburg press conference. “With a total transhipment volume of 110.4 million tons in what was a difficult year for the entire port-related industries and shipping sector, we recorded an exceptionally severe decline in the history of our port to date. In the period from January to December 2009, the terminals at the Port of Hamburg handled some 30 million tons of cargo less than in the year 2008.

Port of Brunswick's newest vehicle processing center for Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) opened its doors with the arrival of more than 1,600 Mercedes-Benz autos. This shipment marks the first delivery of import Mercedes-Benz autos to Brunswick's Colonel's Island Terminal. Ports America, Inc. will be the stevedore for the MOL vessel, M/V Paradise Ace.

Port of Antwerp in 2009 container volume handled fell by 15.6 percent to 7,309,639 million 20-foot units, mirroring the decline in box volumes at all northern European ports. In tonnage terms, total container volume dropped 16.7 percent to 157,806,429 metric tons, compared to nearly 190 million metric tons in 2008, the port said. Containerized imports declined by 22.3 percent to 81,600,769 metric tons, and exports by 9.7 percent to 76,205,660 metric tons.The volume of tonnage carried loaded on and off roll-on, roll-off ships dropped by 27.6 percent to 3.2 million metric tons.

Port of Le Havre new route-finder system is now in operation,  owing to the coordinated action of the Grand Port Maritime du Havre and all local players. The only one of its kind in  France, this signpost system is on trial in the Havre port area for two years. The 10,000 hectares constituting the zone of the port of Le Havre were divided in four areas, each of them being situated in an range of numbers easy to identify. All establishments located in each area are referenced by a four-digit number, corresponding to their location in one of the four areas. The area is sign-posted through a system of smaller and small number ranges, by a simple funnel progression, which enables drivers to easily reach their final destination.

Port of Houston Authority  Port Commission  authorized the sale of $235 million in unlimited tax refunding bonds and approved the 2010 operating budget. Chairman Jim Edmonds presided over the regular public meeting with Commissioner Steve Phelps, Commissioner Jim Fonteno, Commissioner Kase Lawal, Commissioner Jimmy Burke, Commissioner Janiece Longoria, and Commissioner Elyse Lanier.

Panama Canal Authority's (ACP) Environment Division received ISO 14001-2004 certification resulting from an audit performed by Lloyd's Register Central and South America Inc., during an official ceremony. The recognition underscores the ACP's commitment to protect and maintain its natural resources, and validates its efforts to ensure the Canal provides safe, reliable and efficient service to its customers. The ACP sought the certification because of its firm commitment to the protection of the environment. Moreover, receiving this recognition confirms that the ACP is implementing robust management procedures.

Port of Brownsville has quickly gained speed on expanding its marine highway capability since SeaBridge Freight came aboard in December 2008. With its established route to/from Port Manatee, Florida, the Port recently handled one of their largest container loading/unloading with a total of 120 containers. To date, the Port has handled over 5292 TEU's. This in turn has also expanded the customer database and cargo diversification at the Port with commodities such as tile, juice concentrate, concrete electrical transmission poles and wire rod coils. Steel and petroleum products remain the primary commodities handled at the Port.

Port of Hamburg is lowering its fees in an effort to secure the future growth of the port. In intensive talks with the port and shipping industry and upon the initiative of Senator Gedaschko, incentives have been developed to route additional shipping traffic through Hamburg. At the same time, the public port infrastructure will be further expanded and improved to cater for future trade needs and growth. In the coming four to five years, some € 1 billion - proceeds that the city state generated from the sale of HHLA shares in 2007 - are planned to be invested in public port infrastructure measures. As in all ports around the world, the global economic crisis has caused a sharp drop in handling rates. However, current signs are that the bottom has been reached and the port is back on the path to growth. In terms of quality and prices, the port of Hamburg is competitive, innovative and climate-friendly, and it is building on these strengths to stabilise and enhance the signs of recovery.

Port of Hamburg is lowering its fees in an effort to secure the future growth of the port. In intensive talks with the port and shipping industry and upon the initiative of Senator Gedaschko, incentives have been developed to route additional shipping traffic through Hamburg. At the same time, the public port infrastructure will be further expanded and improved to cater for future trade needs and growth. In the coming four to five years, some € 1 billion - proceeds that the city state generated from the sale of HHLA shares in 2007 – are planned to be invested in public port infrastructure measures.

Port of Helsinki proposes to its Board on not to raise its prices in 2010. This course of action is in line with the promise that the initiation of the Vuosaari Harbour's operations would not result in price increases. There will be only some textual corrections and additions to the price list. The amount of unitized cargo traffic through the port of Helsinki in October was 0.8 million tonnes, which is a monthly record for this year. However, it is still some 14 % short of the volumes of the previous year. Between January and October the cargo traffic amounted to nearly 7.2 million tonnes, which is 24 % less than last year at the same time. Port of Helsinki's market share of the unitized cargo traffic in all Finnish ports rose to roughly 26 %. Port of Helsinki's market share of transported containers was 33 %. Some 56 % of all trucks and trailers were transported through the Port of Helsinki.

Port of Hamburg made a significant contribution to climate protection in the first half of 2008. Over this period the most environmentally friendly carrier for seaport to hinterland operations at Germany's biggest seaport carried a total of 6 million tons of goods, for the most part consisting of bulk goods like ore, agricultural products, foodstuffs, animal feeds and mineral oils. The volume of transport rose by 6.5 percent in comparison with the same period last year, making this the best result since 1990. As Germany's biggest seaport, the Port of Hamburg has practically doubled the volume of goods it handles in the last 20 years. In view of this dramatic growth, especially in the area of container shipments, upgrading of the port infrastructure is a particularly urgent concern. Seaport to hinterland transport by inland waterway vessel is an environmentally friendly solution, and holds great potential for meeting future transport demands.

Port of Hamburg handled a total of 54.2 million metric tons of seagoing cargo in the first half of 2009, the. This represents a drop of 23.7 percent in comparison to the same period in the previous year. Port of Hamburg Marketing, the marketing organization for the Port of Hamburg, reported a volume of 30 million tons of imported cargo, 26.5 percent less than in the last year.

Port Authority Board of Commissioners authorized a planning analysis to help the agency determine the best options to address navigational issues posed by new larger ships coming in 2014 that may have difficulty fitting under the Bayonne Bridge. The Board authorized up to $10 million for planning and engineering services to develop options to deal with the bridge’s low clearance, which may prevent new larger ships from passing under it to reach the Port of New York and New Jersey’s container terminals west of the bridge.

Port of Le Havre, have ended on slightly negative results with an overall traffic of 38.2 million tonnes (Mt) for, the first six months of 2009. The satisfaction of this early year 2009 comes from liquid bulks which rose by 1.4 % compared to the first six months of 2008 with 23.9 Mt handled. Accounting for about 70 % of the tonnage of liquid bulks, the volume of crude oil handled on the sites of Le Havre and Antifer has slightly decreased at the end of the first six months of 2009, with 16.7 Mt that is -1.4 % compared to 2008. Refined products have recorded good figures with 6.1 Mt, a 6.2 % rise against the same period in 2008.

Port of Antwerp said freight volumes fell by nearly 20% in the first six months of 2009, handling 77m tonnes of freight compared with the same period last year, when volumes hit more than 96m tonnes. Container volumes dropped 17.7% from more than 52m tonnes last year to just under 43m tonnes while total TEU handled was down 3.6m teu or 18.5%.Ro-ro traffic fell by a third as did the number of cars handled.

Port of Helsinki the amount of unitized cargo traffic in the between January and May was 3.46 million tons, representing a decline of 28 per cent from the previous year. In May 2009 alone, 0.7 million tons of cargo were transported - again 28 per cent less than the previous year. Roro traffic has decreased more than container traffic. In May, container traffic decreased by 19% and roro traffic by 31%. The number of containers between January and May reached 145, 500 TEU (-20%). The total number of rubber-wheeled units was 176,000 vehicles (-22%).

Port of Houston Authority (PHA) along with eight other Houston Ship Channel industries are the recipients of more than $3.47 million in an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Clean Diesel Campaign that provides funding through the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA).

Port Authority’s Board of Commissioners recently approved two agreements with New York City that will allow the agency to promote the operation and future development of two major New York maritime facilities - the Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island and the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

Port of New York and New Jersey is best-known as a containerport, the port has a lot to offer shippers of over-dimensional cargo, according to Steve Liberti Sr., President of Port Newark-based Harbor Freight Transport Corp., one of a number of firms specializing in the expert handling of heavy-lift projects and other non-containerized cargo through the port.

Port of Hamburg in consequence of the global financial and economic crisis, the volume of seagoing goods passing through is significantly lower in the first quarter of 2009 than in the corresponding period of last year.  Port of Hamburg has reported a total volume of goods handled in the first quarter of 2009 coming to 27.32 million tons – a decline of 21.7 percent in comparison with the corresponding figures from last year. On the import side, Port of Hamburg Marketing registered a volume of goods amounting to 15.75 million tons (-22.6 percent). Exports from Hamburg likewise showed a decline in comparison with the first quarter of 2008, reaching 11.57 million tons (-20.4 percent). General cargo achieved a total of 18.45 million tons (-26.2 percent) and the bulk goods 8.87 million tons (-10.3 percent) in the first three months of this year.

Port of Hamburg Marketing presented Hamburg’s port industry on a shared stand at the TransRussia in Moscow for the tenth time, this continuity underlining yet again the importance of Russia for Hamburg’s foreign trade as a port and logistics centre.

Port of Portland, lost two container services, the Eimskip feeder ship and the Columbia Coastal Transport’s container barge service. Eimskip’s feedership service was halted due to general economic problems that beset Iceland while Columbia Coastal ceased service in June after a key supporter, Red Shield Environmental in Old Town, Maine, went out of business. The good news for Portland is that Columbia Coastal’s weekly container barge service is again going to call at the City’s public pier. The Red Shield business has been resurrected under a new name: Old Town Fuel and Fiber.

Port of Hamburg Marketing has brought out a new Port Handbook for 2009. The bilingual publication in English and German has 176 pages containing comprehensive information about the cargo handling terminals of the Port of Hamburg, the development of the port, the many services provided by the marine transport industry, and the seaport to hinterland transport facilities by road, rail, inland waterway vessel and the feeder network.

Port of Portland, lost two container services, the Eimskip feeder ship and the Columbia Coastal Transport's container barge service. Eimskip's feedership service was halted due to general economic problems that beset Iceland while Columbia Coastal ceased service in June after a key supporter, Red Shield Environmental in Old Town, Maine, went out of business.

Port of Houston Authority's (PHA's) historic Environmental Management System (EMS) has been recertified to meet the rigorous standards of the universally recognized International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001.

Port of Seattle commissioners voted to invest an additional $17.2 million in the East Marginal Way grade separation project, a crucial freight mobility improvement in South Seattle.

Port of Los Angeles was named "Port of the Year 2008" and was selected by virtue of customer satisfaction ratings reported by passengers on each of the Line's vessels.

Port Everglades unveiled its plans to more than triple the size of Cruise Terminal 18 in time for the arrival of Royal Caribbean International's 5,400-passenger Oasis class of ships, the largest cruise ships in the world.

Port of New York and New Jersey handled less number of containers during 2008. The drop was by about 34,052, essentially showing no growth over the previous year as the global economic recession slowed trade to a crawl.

Port of New York-New Jersey began the first day of TWIC enforcement with little disruption of gate traffic, according to Bethann Rooney, security director. The port began requiring all persons entering secure areas to have a Transportation Worker Identification Credential.

PANYNJ Board Approves 2009 $6.7 Billion provides for a robust $3.3 billion in investment in capital projects, and no growth in operating expenses and staffing levels. The budget makes clear that the Port Authority faces downward pressure on its long-term capital financial capacity, and will need to manage its long-term capital program in the context of the new economic and fiscal realities. Details of the budget can be found in the Port Authority's 2009 Budget Book, which is posted on the agency's Web site - www.panynj.gov. The budget calls for the largest amount of capital spending in the agency's history - $3.3 billion - an increase of $725 million or 28 percent over the 2008 budget. The infusion of investment into regional capital projects will help buffer the economic crisis and address the region's infrastructure challenge.

Port of Le Havre, the year 2008 ended on slightly positive results with an overall traffic of 80.5 million tonnes (provisional figures, bunkering and ship stores included), that is a 1.4 % rise against 2007. Even if the industrial disputes related to the implementation of the port reform have not made it possible to reach the prospects expected for 2008, this has been the first time for almost thirty years and the fourth time in its history that the Le Havre port traffic passed the figure of 80 million tonnes a year (89.0 Mt in 1973, 86.3 Mt in 1974 and 88.1 Mt in 1979, a period during which oil accounted for a very high trade share. The satisfaction of the year 2008 comes from liquid bulks which rise by 6.7 % against the year 2007 with 49.2 Mt handled (let's remind that last year, the five-year scheduled stoppage of the Normandy Refinery had brought about a drop in business during two months of that year). Accounting for more than the 2/3 of the tonnage of liquid bulks, the volume of crude oil handled on the sites of Le Havre and Antifer increased by 5.8 % in late 2008, with 34.8 Mt.

Pella Shipyard is going to commission 10 vessels in 2009. The shipyard is currently expanding its production facilities. In 2008, the shipyard has built and commissioned 7 tugboats of different projects including a ship-towing tug "Sevryuga" built by the order of Ust-Luga Company. In November 2008 Sovcomflot placed an order at the shipyard to build four tugboats.

Port of Helsinki will no longer charge a wastewater fee for wastewater left by ships in the port sewer system. This change is a continuation of the Port of Helsinki's efforts to reduce loading in the Baltic Sea. Wastewater fees were discontinued for international cruise ships on a trial basis in the summer of 2008 and the trial will now become standard practice for all vessels.

Shipping Corporation of India’s consolidated revenue and net profit have grown at a CAGR of 6.1% and 8.5% respectively over the last 5 years. The order book of the company is worth $1.6 bn with 32 vessels of nearly 1.9 mn dead weight tonnage (DWT). SCI had put on hold its order plans but is now gearing up for fresh orders and is planning to take delivery of seven vessels worth $400 mn in the next few months.

Star Cruises changed its name to Genting Hong Kong. The change of name has been done in line with the corporate strategy of the company which is in diversifying into land-based integrated resorts and entertainment business. The company’s principal business is that of cruises and cruise related operations.

STX Europe's shipyard in Turku, Finland has officially handed over Oasis of the Seas to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL). The 360 metres long vessel is powered by Wärtsilä's most modern, high technology equipment. Oasis of the Seas is equipped with a total of six Wärtsilä 46 engines, three 12-cylinder and three 16-cylinder engines, generating more than 96 MW. The vessel is also equipped with four 5.5 MW Wärtsilä bow thrusters, which are among the largest in the world.

Saudi Seaports Authority (SSA) is undertaking a $144.1 million short-term development project to ease the congestion at the Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP). The Authority has formulated plans to improve the capacity of Kingdom's sea ports, particularly at the Jeddah Islamic Port and Dammam's King Abdul Aziz Port. As a medium-term solution to the issue the SSA plans to implement a $427 million project to increase the yearly capacity of the container terminals to an overall 6 million containers by the end of next year when the project would be completed.

Sri Lanka proposes to build and operate a container terminal in the planned new deep-draft port being built next to Colombo's existing harbour. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), which is planning to build the terminal, will soon issue a request for proposals (RFP) inviting private sector investors to build the container terminal in the new port, which had been repeatedly postponed. Work on building the new terminal must start by November 2009.

Saint-Petersburg Seaport will spend over EUR500 million on the port infrastructure development before 2011. The program will allow the company to increase the handling capacity of the port up to 20 million tonnes annually. The program envisages the construction of a container terminal with the design capacity of 1.5 million TEU annually on the territory of Fourth Stevedoring Company. The terminals will be commissioned in 2011.

Sical Logistics Ltd, has won the award for the “Best Container Logistics Provider in the country” at the Express, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards (ELSC) held in Mumbai .The award was received by Mr. Sudhir S. Rangnekar, MD and Group CEO Sical Logistics, on behalf of Sical Distriparks Ltd (SDL) from Mr Nigel Goode CEO, Logistics Writer Corporation and Chairman Express, Logistics and Supply Chain Conclave. SDL is a subsidiary of Sical offering world-class container logistics solutions and was represented by Mr LR Sridhar, Whole Time Director and CEO and Mr R Dhandapani, Chief Operating Officer, SDL.

SLCS (St. Lawrence Co-ordinated Services) members, OOCL and Hapag-Lloyd, announced they will rationalize their jointly-operated SLCS1 North Atlantic service/ GEX1 with the Canadian Gateway service of Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), known as the Montreal Express 1. The first sailing of the new service, which has the objective of providing better overall port coverage for their customers, will be the OOCL Belgium ETD Antwerp.The partners will deploy 4 vessels: OOCL Belgium (2,800 TEUs), Hapag-Lloyd’s Mississauga Express (2,800 TEUs), MSC Suez and MSC Jordan (both 3,000 TEUS).

Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and the Swiss Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), based in Geneva, are together running a regular weekly service (ISES) between northern Europe and the Indian subcontinent. The recently built HS DEBUSSY was the first ship of the new joint service to visit the Port of Hamburg.

Salam Shipping and Forwarding has discussed with one of its Group principals to operate regular RORO services ex Shanghai to Aqaba. This service will commence on inducement basis at the early stages of the operations and then will develop into regular Liner Service linking mainly Shanghai Port with Red Sea Ports.

Taganrog Commercial Seaport handled 553 000 tons of cargo in the first half of 2010 which is 22% as much as in the same period of 2009. In the reported period, the port handled 167 vessels and over 8000 railcars. Import totaled 22 400 tons (+61%), export – 373 000 tons (+25%). Cabotage was about 158 000 tons (+10%). first half of 2010.

The International Shipping Federation (ISF) is the principal international employers’ organisation for ship operators, representing national shipowners’ associations from 30 countries and about 80% of the world merchant fleet. Together with its partner IT Energy, ISF has launched an updated version of its ‘ISF Watchkeeper’ computer program.  ‘ISF Watchkeeper 3’ is designed to allow shipping companies to maintain records of individual seafarers’ hours of work and rest as required by international regulations, including the latest amendments to the IMO STCW Convention.

Tianjin China's coastal city plans to lay the foundations for building its Binhai New Area into an international shipping centre to serve northern China and Asia's northeast, west, and central areas by 2015, reported Xinhua. By then, Tianjin Port's waterway classification will hit 300,000 tonnes with a cargo handing capacity and container throughput topping 550 million tonnes and 17 million TEUs, respectively, according to a new plan of the city. To achieve the ambitious goal, the Binhai New Area vows to accelerate the construction of port infrastructure, logistics network, service system, and the oil tanker sector.

Toll Group, the Asian region’s leading provider of integrated logistics services including coastal shipping, has entered into a joint venture arrangement with ANL Container Line in relation to the operation of Bass Strait shipping services. The joint venture will be known as Toll ANL Bass Strait Shipping with 85% held by the Toll Group and the remainder held by ANL.

TSS have won approval of performance standards from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for their Orion Inertial Navigation System (INS). The International Maritime Organization is the United Nations specialised agency responsible for improving maritime safety and preventing pollution from ships. Performance standards for Inertial Navigation Systems were adopted by the IMO to enhance the safety of navigation by providing integrated and augmented functions to avoid geographic, traffic and environmental hazards.

Tulsa Port of Catoosa Oklahoma's Barge freight tonnage at fell 14.8 percent in December from the same month a year ago, The total tonnage in December was the largest the Tulsa port saw since July, soaring some 80 percent from November to December.

Transas has signed a contract with Nevsky Shipyard (Schlusselburg) to deliver radio navigation equipment for two bunkering ships of SK4902 project which are being built by the order of Bergen Tankers AS. This is the first time the company has established cooperation with Nevsky Shipyard. The delivery is scheduled for April 2009. SHIPS KONSULATE, which is a part of Vik-Sandvik Group, was assigned as a ship designer. The new bunkering vessels MT Bergen Barge and MT Oslo Barge with the tonnage of 850 tons each are designed for supplying the customers along the seashore of Norway with oil products.

United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), based in Kuwait, has reinstated its second Europe–Far East service. The first arrival of the AEC-1 scheduled liner service at the Port of Hamburg took place on 27 April 2010 with the docking of the container ship ABU DHABI.

U.S. container ports finally turned the corner in December, with imports estimated to be higher than in December 2008. This would mark the first year-over-year monthly increase in containerized imports in two and one-half years.

UK’s imports and exports by sea fell year-on-year by 11% in the first half of the year, according to the latest figures from the Department for Transport (DfT). In total, the UK’s ports handled 246m tonnes of cargo over the first half, down from 276m tonnes a year earlier. Imports were down 12% year-on-year, while exports were down 8.4%.DfT figures also showed declines worsened as the year progressed, with tonnage 13% down in the second quarter, compared to a 9% decline in the first quarter.The grouped ports of Grimsby and Immingham were the busiest over the first half, handling 27m tonnes, 20% down on a year earlier, with the London ports second busiest with 23m tonnes, 18% down year-on-year.Of the UK’s five busiest ports, Tees and Hartlepool suffered the worst volume decline in the first half, with traffic dropping 23% to 18.6m tonnes.

U-Ocean, the oceanfreight arm of global freight forwarder the U-Freight Group (ufl) - www.ufreight.com - launched scheduled oceanfreight export consolidation services from New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to Hong Kong,

Vizhinjam International Sea port near Thiruvananthapuram is expected to commence work in 2011 as the Kerala government in India was planning to award the contract for the by the end of this year itself.

VIH Aviation Group of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada has announced the purchase of two new Eurocopter EC225 long-range heavy helicopters. The new twin-turbine helicopters will support its expansions plans in the Australian offshore oil and gas sector and be flown by HNZ Cougar Helicopters Pty. Ltd., a new joint venture.

Vuosaari Harbour gradually moves into service .The operating areas of Finnsteve Oy Ab, Multi-Link Terminals Ltd Oy and Steveco Oy will be assigned to port operations and empty containers will also begin to arrive at the port around that time. The export terminals will begin to operate at the beginning of November. On November 24, the first ships will arrive at Vuosaari, and the Gatehouse will be put into use on the same day. The inauguration of Vuosaari Harbour will take place on November 28.

Visakhapatnam port on India's eastern coast plans to double its handling capacity from the present capacity of 61 million tones with an investment of about INR 30 billion over the next 30 months. The capacity expansion work would be completed by March 2012. As part of the expansion plan, the port is taking up works including deepening of entrance channel to facilitate berthing of Panamax vessels, outer harbour expansion, providing mechanical handling facility at the general cargo berth, upgradation of iron ore handling facility and development of single buoy mooring berth by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation. The port has set a target to handle 65 million tonne cargo during the current year. It has so far handled 33 million tonne.

Wartsila, the marine industry's leading ship power systems integrator, has signed a major contract with the A.P. Moller Maersk Group (APMM), one of the world's largest shipping companies. The order covers the installation of Wärtsilä Slow Steaming Upgrade Kits to 34 more of the company's large container vessels, following the successful installation and testing on one of the fleet's sister vessels in late 2009. The 34 ships to be fitted with Slow Steaming Upgrade Kits are powered by Wärtsilä RT-flex96C and RTA96C main engines with 10, 11 and 12 cylinders. Applied to the Wärtsilä low-speed main engines, the Upgrade Kits will produce major savings in the ships' fuel consumption while also cutting CO2 emissions. The Upgrade Kits will be fitted by Wärtsilä as fully engineered solutions, with the company supplying all necessary material, labour, ship-specific engineering and full project management.

Wartsila, the marine industry's leading ship power systems integrator, has signed a contract with Lamprell plc of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to supply a complete ship power system for a new wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV). Wärtsilä's solution has been selected for its low fuel consumption, environmentally sound technology, and global service support.

Wärtsilä, the marine industry's leading ship power systems integrator, has signed a Letter of Intent with the renowned Canadian ship design company Robert Allan Ltd. to develop a Strategic Cooperation Agreement.

Wärtsilä has signed a contract with the Brazilian industrial group QUIP to supply three main power modules for a new P-63 Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel. The vessel is unique in that it will be the first FPSO to utilize gas engines to produce more than 100 MWe of power.

Western Indian Shippers Association said that the Indian exporters and their western apparel / accessory retailers in Europe are facing congestion and lack of capacity. The containers are piling up at Indian ports and container shipping lines operating out of Asia give the country a wide berth en route to Europe. Quoting a key logistic player in UK and IFW, WISA added that the trade out of India is prone to severe delays.

Wartsila, in consortium with IMS Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, has been engaged by RWE Innogy, the renewable energy arm of the German utility company RWE, as its designer to provide the basic design and consultancy services for a jack up crane vessel. Two such vessels with GL class-approval have been ordered by RWE Innogy to be used for constructing offshore wind farms.

Wartsila, has received an award for supplier excellence from CNOOC, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. After rigorous internal evaluation by project management teams, 28 Chinese and international vendors participating in nine of CNOOC's major projects were honoured. Wärtsilä is involved in four of these projects.

Wartsila, the marine industry's leading ship power systems integrator, has signed a new agreement with Raytheon Anschütz, a division of Raytheon Co., USA. Raytheon Anschütz is based in Kiel, Germany. The agreement extends the scope of Wärtsilä's offering of integrated system solutions to include navigation systems, which can now be offered by Wärtsilä on a global basis.

Wartsila and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) have signed a co-operation agreement to develop gas-fuelled merchant vessels. The intention is to jointly develop next-generation ships with efficient and competitive propulsion machinery concepts that meet or exceed the demands of future environmental regulations.

Wärtsilä and Hitachi Zosen have signed a business development agreement to develop and market fuel cell based power solutions for distributed power generation applications in Japan. The combined heat and power applications, which can be run on either city gas or bio gas, will feature the use of Wärtsilä's fuel cell technology. The applications will be developed in cooperation by both companies, and marketed by Hitachi Zosen. Wärtsilä and Hitachi Zosen will utilize and combine their vast experience in technology and business development to provide this new and competitive power solution for the Japanese distributed energy markets.

Wärtsilä has signed a contract with the STX Finland Oy shipyard in Rauma, Finland, to deliver four Wärtsilä 32 engines for a Polar Supply and Research Vessel. The Owner of the vessel will be the Republic of South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs, and it will be operated by SMIT Amandla Marine, of South Africa. The vessel's crew will be trained at the Wärtsilä Land and Sea Academy in Turku, Finland.

Wärtsilä, has signed a contract with the German shipowner Jüngerhans, located in Haren (Ems), Germany, to refit two of its vessels with Wärtsilä Slow Steaming Upgrade Kits to cut fuel costs. The 1997-built vessels are equipped with 7-cylinder Wärtsilä RTA62U main engines.

Wärtsilä Corporation and Trojan Technologies have signed an exclusive agreement to jointly develop, market, and distribute a ballast water treatment product for ships. The two companies will gain synergistic benefits from the combined strength of Wärtsilä's global reach and presence in the marine market, and from Trojan Technologies' leadership and experience in developing ultraviolet treatment solutions.

Wärtsilä, has received the first order for its new Wärtsilä RT-flex35 two-stroke engine. The Wärtsilä licensee, Yichang Marine Diesel Engine Co. (YMD), manufacturing low-speed marine engines in China, has signed a contract with Ningbo Donghai Shipping Co. Ltd to deliver five Wärtsilä RT-flex35 engines for a series of five chemical tankers.

Wärtsilä, has been awarded a contract by DSD Shipping AS of Stavanger, Norway to retrofit the main engines on four DSD Shipping vessels with the Wärtsilä Retrofit Pulse Lubricating System. The Retrofit Pulse Lubricating System (RPLS) is designed to lower the oil feed rate to the engine, thus cutting the consumption of lubricating oil. This creates obvious savings in operating costs, and also has a positive effect on exhaust emissions. 

Wärtsilä has extensive experience in providing long-term operational and management services, enabling performance optimisation for about 1000 similar engines installed in ships and land-based power plants all over the world. Wärtsilä, the marine industry's leading ship power system integrator, has signed a five-year maintenance agreement with Finnish Neste Oil. The agreement covers both the main and auxiliary engines, delivered by Wärtsilä, for eight vessels in the Neste Oil fleet. According to the agreement, Wärtsilä offers maintenance operations, spare parts, including performance optimisation, as well as an annual visit of specialists to check the optimal operation of each vessel's engines under running conditions.

Wärtsilä, the marine industry's leading ship power system integrator, has enjoyed considerable sales success with its newly introduced Wärtsilä RT-flex82T low-speed engine. Orders for a total of 30 seven-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex82T engines have been received in recent months, including: Six engines for VLCCs to be built by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. Six engines for VLCCs to be built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co Ltd Two engines for VLCCs to be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.Ltd. Sixteen engines for very large ore carriers to be built by Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries Co Ltd The engines have been contracted by the licensees of Wärtsilä Corporation.

Wärtsilä Land & Sea Academy has been nominated as the preferred training partner of Wagenborg Shipping. Customised training strengthens the bond between Wärtsilä and its customer. Wärtsilä has signed a three-year training contract with its long-time customer Wagenborg Shipping of the Netherlands. The agreement covers the training of more than 830 of the shipping company's crew members, and will be held at Wärtsilä Land & Sea Academy training centres. The training consists of about 70 courses a year. The programme includes product specific instruction on diesel engines and propulsion systems, as well as customised training in electrical engineering, navigation, hydraulics and pneumatics.

Wartsila, the marine industry's leading  ship power system integrator, has signed a long term service agreement with Maersk LNG. The agreement includes maintenance planning, condition & performance monitoring, co-ordination and supply of technical services, parts and service work for five 165,000 cum LNG vessels equipped with Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines over a 5 year period. "For Maersk LNG, this service agreement means improved levels of certainty regarding servicing of the main engines on our LNG vessels. With this monitoring system in place, maintenance work can be proactive," said Claus H. Thomsen, Director, Maersk LNG. "The contract also guarantees us stable maintenance costs for at least the next five years.”

Wärtsilä,  has extended its dual-fuel technology to the lower power range with the launch of the new environmentally advanced Wärtsilä 20DF engine. It offers ship owners and operators a compact unit that brings all the advantages of fuel flexibility to auxiliary applications, such as generating sets or as the prime mover in smaller vessels. The new Wärtsilä 20DF engine is a testimony to Wärtsilä's ability to successfully utilize gas as a main fuel for marine operations.

Wilhelmsen Ships Service provides a full range of shipping, logistics and maritime services in China via Wilhelmsen Huayang Ships Service Co., Ltd, a joint venture with Huayang Maritime Centre, which is owned by China’s Maritime Bureau. The company’s comprehensive network of offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Qingdao, Xingang and Ningbo serviced almost 1,000 port calls on behalf of some 150 principals in 2008.

Wärtsilä, the marine industry's leading ship power system integrator and solution provider, has signed a contract to design and supervise the construction of a modern oceanographic research vessel for the marine wing of the Geological Survey of India (GSI). In addition to design and supervising the construction process, Wärtsilä will be involved in selecting the onboard scientific instruments, and in arranging training for GSI scientists to ensure that the vessel's capabilities are fully utilized. Wärtsilä know-how and the company's global presence guarantee that the new vessel's scientific team will have the best possible support.

Wärtsilä, has during 2009 been awarded two large orders from the Spliethoff Group, headquarted in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The orders are for propulsion systems for eleven ships that the Spliethoff Group has ordered at the Ouhua Shipyard in Zhejiang, China. The Wärtsilä scope of delivery includes engines, propellers and efficiency rudders, as well as bow thrusters forming a complete integrated propulsion system for the ships. The new orders are for five 16,800 dwt Heavy-Lift vessels to be operated by BigLift Shipping, and six 12,500 dwt Multipurpose vessels. Deliveries of the Heavy-Lift vessels will take place between August and December 2010, and the Multipurpose vessels will be delivered between December 2010 and May 2011. With these additional newbuildings the total order book is now about 20 vessels under delivery with Wärtsilä propulsion solutions for the Spliethoff Group.

Wärtsilä opens a new workshop in Stockholm, Sweden. The new service centre is intended to further increase Wärtsilä's wide service offering, both for the marine market and power plant and industrial customers. The new workshop will cater to increased demand for additional after-sales support in the region. The workshop is located at Beckholmen, a small island near the centre of Stockholm. The new, state-of-the-art workshop provides qualified in-situ capacity and field support and offers a wide range of service functions, including propulsion system repairs, engine component overhaul work and other services. Initially, the facility will be served by 12 highly trained personnel, and additional field-service engineers will be recruited during the coming months.

Wärtsilä has signed a ship design contract with Pipavav Shipyard of India. The contract calls for a total of 12 Offshore Supply Vessels (OSVs) to be designed by Wärtsilä and built by Pipavav, for delivery to ONGC - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, which is the largest oil and gas producer in India. The yard is scheduled to begin production of the first seven vessels in the first quarter of 2010. Wärtsilä's strong track record in producing consistently high performance and cost effective designs was clearly a key factor in the company's design being the one chosen from a highly competitive field of global ship design companies.

Wärtsilä, has been awarded the contract to supply an integrated total electro-propulsion package for a Russian state owned ship. The package is to be installed in a Multipurpose Salvage Vessel (MPSV) being built by Russia's Nevsky shipbuilding and ship repair yard in Shlisselburg, close to St Petersburg. Wärtsilä's ability to supply integrated total propulsion was an important consideration for the shipyard when selecting the company as a partner for this project. Other important considerations for the shipyard were Wärtsilä's ability to meet the unique technical requirements of the vessel, and willingness to work closely with designers and the customer during equipment engineering.

Wärtsilä, the marine industry's leading ship power system integrator and solution provider, has signed a contract to design and supervise the construction of a modern oceanographic research vessel for the marine wing of the Geological Survey of India (GSI). The order was received in October. In addition to design and supervising the construction process, Wärtsilä will be involved in selecting the onboard scientific instruments, and in arranging training for GSI scientists to ensure that the vessel's capabilities are fully utilized. Wärtsilä know-how and the company's global presence guarantee that the new vessel's scientific team will have the best possible support.

Wilson Shipowning AS, one of Europe's leading short sea bulk carrier operators, has ordered Wärtsilä propulsion packages for a series of eight 4500-dwt general cargo bulk carriers. The vessels will be built by Shandong Baibuting Shipbuilding Co Ltd, in Qingdao, China.This significant order follows a supply agreement from last year with Wilson for the provision of complete propulsion systems for a series of eight 8000-dwt bulk carriers currently under construction at China's Yichang Shipyard.

Wärtsilä Corporation has inaugurated a new extension to its service centre in Chesapeake. The building provides increased capacity for propeller repairs and water jet assembly, while creating a service centre for repair and overhaul of engines, propulsion equipment and shaft seals.

Wärtsilä has acquired Navelec SAS, a French company specializing in marine navigation and communication systems, electrical marine services, and control and automation services. Navelec's main office is located in Le Havre, in France, with branch offices in St. Nazaire and Brest. Navelec enjoys a valuable reputation among its key customers and has a broad knowledge of various vessel types, including fly boats, ferries, carriers, tugs and cruise ships. Navelec also has promising growth opportunities within the yacht segment.

Wärtsilä launches Energopac, new integrated propulsion and manoeuvring solution for energy optimization - reduces fuel consumption. Ship owners can reduce fuel consumption by up to 9% and shave thousands off their fuel bills simply by installing Energopac.

Wärtsilä RT-flex82C common-rail marine engine type developed by Wärtsilä has successfully completed its official shop test at Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd in Korea, which is a licensee of Wärtsilä. The seven-cylinder engine has a maximum continuous power of 31,640 kW at 102 rpm. It will be installed in a 3600 TEU container ship being built by Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co Ltd of Korea. The RT-flex82C is one of four new engine types all of 820 mm cylinder bore. They are designed to be ideal prime movers for a variety of ship types, including Panamax-sized container ships, typically up to 5000 TEU capacity, and large tankers, namely VLCCs and ULCCs of 200,000 dwt to more than 350,000 dwt, as well as very large bulk, ore and combination carriers.

Wärtsilä unveils a novel engine exhaust noise reduction system that could eventually make conventional single unit diesel engine silencers a thing of the past. Designed for applications where little or no engine noise is an operational requirement, such as passenger ships and ferries, offshore and military vessels, Wärtsilä's Compact Silencer System (CSS) is a patented method for designing the complete exhaust systems using multiple silencer elements distributed along the exhaust pipe.

Wärtsilä has agreed to acquire a leading naval architecture and ship design company Conan Wu & Associates Pte Ltd (CWA), headquartered in Singapore. The deal also includes partnership agreements regarding CWA's business in Malaysia, China and Hong Kong. The price of the deal is EUR 23 millions, to be paid in cash, and an additional amount to be paid based on the performance of the business in years 2008-2010. In 2007, the turnover generated by CWA's businesses was EUR 10.7 millions and the profitability was on a very good level. CWA has 66 employees in Singapore.

Wilhelmsen Ship Management (WSM) has signed a new five year contract with Schenker AS in Norway for their ships spares logistics. The contract covers global warehousing, handling, and transportation of the ships spares to the vessels under WSM management. A direct IT-integration between WSM’s procurement system and DB Schenker is also part of the contract.

Wärtsilä Corporation has finished the formal process in Finland and in some other countries, aimed at realigning its organisation and resources. The negotiations were initiated at Ship Power to adjust to the substantially weakened global marine market situation. In Finland, the co-operation negotiations, which ended today, result in the reduction of 77 jobs.

Wärtsilä opened its new office and workshop facilities in Mexico, in the city of Veracruz, which is the largest container shipping port in the country and is home to the Mexican Merchant Marine Academy. The new facilities will further expand Wärtsilä's offering in all market segments, especially in the marine and offshore segments. Since Wärtsilä is a strong player in the automation field, customers from the industrial market will also benefit. The new facilities, which cover an area of over 4000 m2, have been set up to enhance Wärtsilä's capabilities in the region.

Wärtsilä, continues to expand its services offering. In order to meet the needs of its customers, and to ensure the best lifecycle support of customers' vessels, Wärtsilä introduces a new, comprehensive package of services, designed to cost efficiently manage hot and cold vessel lay-ups. Reduced transportation demand, over-capacity, and low freight and charter rates have become a major concern throughout the marine industry. The laying-up of ships is one option available to ship owners for meeting these challenges. However, when laying-up, it is of the utmost importance that the vessel's machinery be kept in good condition. This is achieved through professional management of the de-activation and re-activation phases, and by regular inspections and maintenance during the interim period.

Wärtsilä Corporation Ship Power business of will initiate formal process to realign its organisation and resources to adjust to the substantially weakened global marine market situation. Negotiations will affect all of Wärtsilä Ship Power's personnel in all functions globally. The number of jobs to be reduced is 400-450, of which approximately 80 are in Finland.

Wärtsilä opened its new office and workshop facilities in Mexico, in the city of Veracruz, which is the largest container shipping port in the country and is home to the Mexican Merchant Marine Academy.

Wärtsilä, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) inaugurated their new, jointly owned, low-speed marine engine factory QMD in Qingdao, Shandong province. The state-of-the-art QMD factory is one of China's most advanced engine factories, featuring a modern welding shop, machine shop, assembly shop, and a testing shop, as well as facilities for heat treatment, blasting and painting. The automated equipment and processes, the flexible use of test beds, the possibility to test two large engines at full load in parallel, together with the efficient internal logistics, make this one of the most efficient engine production factories in the world.

Wärtsilä, a market leader in ship power and decentralised power plant solutions and CEVA Logistics, one of the leading supply chain companies in the world, have signed an agreement for the outsourcing of warehousing operations for Wärtsilä's 24/7 global spare parts activities in the Netherlands.

Wärtsilä and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd have signed a ten-year renewal of the existing co-operation agreement for the sale, manufacturing and servicing of Wärtsilä low-speed marine diesel engines.

Wärtsilä has opened a new office in Odessa, Ukraine, to meet the increased demand for land- and ship-based power plant installations from customers based across Ukraine. The new office is manned by eight people. From its Odessa office Wärtsilä will look to expand its sales and services towards Crimea, Mariupol and Kiev. Anatoliy Porkunov, Managing Director, Wärtsilä Ukraine, said: "Ukraine is an important region for Wärtsilä. It has vast potential for us. The new facility provides us with presence in a geographically important area and we can be closer to our customers, responding more quickly to their requirements. Until now, Wärtsilä's Ukrainian customers were served from Wärtsilä in Estonia. Our Ukrainian customers are happy to have a local presence with local man-power.”

Ying Kou Port Group, one of the top two port operators in Liaoning province, plans to invest up to 3 billion yuan to build new ports this year, its chairman said. Chairman Gao Baoyu said 35 percent of the required capital would come from the Group, with the rest from bank loans.