Signalling a turnaround in the shipping industry, Bahamian shipowners Campbell Shipping Ltd has signed an order with Zhong Chuan Heavy Industry Shipbuilding Company Ltd of Zhoushan for two 32,000 dwt doublehull bulk carriers, with an option for two more. The vessels are being built to the ‘TRANSPORTER’ series design developed by Nassau-based Algoship Designers, with basic, classification and production designs produced by Smart Engineering and Design Solutions Ltd having offices in Nassau, Bahamas and Kochi. Both companies are affiliates of the GTR Campbell Marine Consultants, wh...

MISC Bhd’s unit MISC Agencies Sdn Bhd has signed a joint-venture deal with two India-based companies, Crescent Shipping Agency (India) Ltd and Sivaswamy Holdings Pvt Ltd. Called MISC Agencies India Pte Ltd, the joint-venture company will act as the sole and exclusive shipping agent for MISC in India. MISC told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that MISC Agencies will have a 60 per cent stake in the joint-venture company, while Sivaswamy and Cresent will own 25 per cent and a 15 per cent respectively. The authorised capital of MISC Agencies India will be 50 million rupees (RM3.82 million) and t...

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has approved as much as 95 percent increase in port fees in Subic ports under its joint venture agreement with Harbour Centre Terminal Inc. A certification from the Office of the Board Secretariat of SBMA showed that SBMA passed Resolution Number 10-02-35-35 last February 19, 2010 approving two additional provisions in the proposed JVA with HCPTI. The first additional provision is the tariff adjustment clause “giving the operator flexibility to adjust tariff rates, provided that: (a) the tariff adjustment will in no case exceed 95% of the Philipp...

China’s steelmakers face a slightly better market for exports this year, but cost pressures continue to bite, making some products unprofitable, the chairman of the country’s biggest steel mill said. “The export situation is likely to see an improvement but it still won’t recover to pre-crisis levels,” Wang Yifang, chairman of Hebei Iron and Steel, told reporters on the sidelines of the annual session of parliament. Chinese steel product exports slumped 58.5 per cent in 2009 as a result of the global economic slowdown. Mr Wang said steel prices on the domestic ...

Surging spot prices of iron ore are forcing steel mills to look for more domestic supplies, something that would also reduce their dependence on costly imports, industry insiders said. Beijing Ye-Steel Trading Co, a private steel mill that buys ore from the spot market, has stopped buying imported iron ore after prices surged to above $130 per ton in February. “We are now buying domestic iron ore with a 66 percent iron content priced at 1,080 yuan ($158) per ton including tax, much cheaper than imported ore,” said a sales manager from Ye-Steel who declined to be named. The compan...

Cargo turnover at the ports of Russia in the first two months this year rose as much as 7.9% from the same period last year, to 77.4 million tons. The volume of transshipped dry cargo amounted to 28.8 million tons, adding 12.1%, liquid bulk cargoes, to 48.6 million tons (+5.6%), the Association of Commercial Sea Ports (Aconitum) statement said. The Russian seaports have seen 60.9 million tons of exports or a 9.8% increase over the same period last year. The volumes include: coal – 8.95 million tons (+7.0%), ferrous metals – 4.5 million tons (+13.6%), grain cargo – 2.9 milli...

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. has signed long-term contracts with Methanol Holdings (Trinidad) Ltd. to operate three ships dedicated to the transport of urea ammonium nitrate solution. Two of the ships can each hold 47,000 tons of UAN solution, while the third can hold 36,000 tons. * All three were built by South Korean firm Hyundai Heavy Industries CO. and are the world’s first ships dedicated to the transport of UAN solution. * The contracts last for 15-20 years and will give Mitsui O.S.K. a stable source of shipping revenue to the tune of two billion yen (US$22 million). Source: Trading...

The international anti-piracy patrol has admitted that it is now pursuing a policy of hunting down and destroying pirate mother ships. Several recent incidents, that resulted in the destruction of mother ships, indicated that this was the case. But now this has been confirmed, along with the warning that even if there is not enough evidence to prosecute the pirates, the mother ship will be destroyed, and the crew dumped on a Somali beach. If there is enough evidence to prosecute, arrangements have been made for Kenya or Seychelles to do it. Western nations are providing these two nations with...

World wide shipping lines have been blamed for price volatilities in commodities. Very soon, shipping companies may effect a 15-30% hike in container freight rates because of rising crude oil prices, according to Times of India. On the other hand shipping companies allege that it is their customers or shippers who are causing price volatilities. Gianluigi Aponte, Chief Executive of Mediterranean Shipping Company was quoted in Financial Times as saying that shippers had abused current industry over-capacity to stir up price competition that has led to fall in container rates below operating co...

Somali pirates raked in an estimated US$60 million in 2009 but the Indian Ocean’s ransom hunters have also spurred a much larger industry of ship protection devices. As the 36,000 ships that bottleneck into the Gulf of Aden each year try to dodge marauding pirates and keep a lid on insurance premiums, an astonishing array of inventions has cropped up on the flourishing market. With obstacles remaining to the deployment of onboard security personnel, a myriad of hoses, nets, lasers, radars – from million-dollar high-tech systems to gadgets straight out of a Harry Potter wizard sho...

Stopping terrorists at sea requires similar action on land, with better international coordination and active and passive measures. THE source of the information remains murky, especially given the specifics of the supposed intelligence: terrorists were planning an attack on oil tankers in Singapore waters from the Straits of Malacca. According to one source, Japanese authorities had passed the information to the Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which then relayed it to “relevant authorities in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia”. But another source said In...

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI, South Korea) has built and delivered a Suezmax class tanker yesterday for Sovcomflot Group. The ship has been named SCF Baikal, added to the SovComFlot’s fleet, the Group’s press service said. The 158.300-DWT tanker is designed to carry crude oil. The 274-m-lenght, 48-m-width ship has maximum draft of 17 meters. The tanker fully meets all national and international safety requirements of the ABS, American Classification Society and can be operated without restriction of navigation area. The ship was named after the largest and deepest freshwater la...

BHP Billiton Plc, Anglo American Plc and Xstrata Plc are shipping coal 10,000 miles to China from their Cerrejon mine in Colombia for the first time this year because of surging demand and rising prices in Asia. Cerrejon, the world’s largest open-pit mine of coal for export, started sending coal shipments through the Panama Canal to China after prices became “much better” than those in Europe, Leon Teicher, the venture’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. Cerrejon may also make its first sales to India this year, he said. China’s accelerating economi...

BHP Billiton Plc, Anglo American Plc and Xstrata Plc are shipping coal 10,000 miles to China from their Cerrejon mine in Colombia for the first time this year because of surging demand and rising prices in Asia. Cerrejon, the world’s largest open-pit mine of coal for export, started sending coal shipments through the Panama Canal to China after prices became “much better” than those in Europe, Leon Teicher, the venture’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. Cerrejon may also make its first sales to India this year, he said. China’s accelerating economi...

The Maritime Logistics department at Wilhelmsen Ships Service’s office in Shanghai has just completed the dispatch of a helicopter frame from Shanghai port to Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The 2000 kg helicopter frame was shipped on a RO-RO vessel on 22 February 2010. Wilhelmsen Ships Service undertook of all the procedures from shore to ship. The company managed the terminal handling, lashing, the RO-RO space chartering and the customs documentation for the customer. The shipment marks the start of a cooperation with the internationally known helicopter manufacturer and it is expected that...

The Maritime Logistics department at Wilhelmsen Ships Service’s office in Shanghai has just completed the dispatch of a helicopter frame from Shanghai port to Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The 2000 kg helicopter frame was shipped on a RO-RO vessel on 22 February 2010. Wilhelmsen Ships Service undertook of all the procedures from shore to ship. The company managed the terminal handling, lashing, the RO-RO space chartering and the customs documentation for the customer. The shipment marks the start of a cooperation with the internationally known helicopter manufacturer and it is expected that...

With activities picking up after a huge lull, shipping companies have started to garner attention amongst gain. Great Eastern Shipping (GE) reported 6.6% growth in revenues in the December 2009 quarter to touch Rs 706.3 crore. Higher operating days and firming of freight rates in the December 2009 quarter, especially over the September 2009 quarter helped it to outperform its peers. Revenue days rose to 3,402 days in December 2009 quarter as against 3,268 days in the September 2009 quarter. Excluding the extraordinary gain from the sale of a vessel to the tune of Rs 53.8 crore in the Septemb...

With activities picking up after a huge lull, shipping companies have started to garner attention amongst gain. Great Eastern Shipping (GE) reported 6.6% growth in revenues in the December 2009 quarter to touch Rs 706.3 crore. Higher operating days and firming of freight rates in the December 2009 quarter, especially over the September 2009 quarter helped it to outperform its peers. Revenue days rose to 3,402 days in December 2009 quarter as against 3,268 days in the September 2009 quarter. Excluding the extraordinary gain from the sale of a vessel to the tune of Rs 53.8 crore in the Septemb...

The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Samudera Shipping Line Ltd (the “Company” or “Samudera”) wishes to announce that on 8 March 2010, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Silkargo Logistic (Singapore) Pte Ltd (the “Seller”), has entered into a Sale and Purchase Agreement with PT. Silkargo Indonesia (the “Purchaser”) for the disposal and purchase of the Seller’s 49% equity interest in the issued and paid-up share capital of Silkargo LLC (“Silkargo”), a company registered with the Department of Economic De...

The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Samudera Shipping Line Ltd (the “Company” or “Samudera”) wishes to announce that on 8 March 2010, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Silkargo Logistic (Singapore) Pte Ltd (the “Seller”), has entered into a Sale and Purchase Agreement with PT. Silkargo Indonesia (the “Purchaser”) for the disposal and purchase of the Seller’s 49% equity interest in the issued and paid-up share capital of Silkargo LLC (“Silkargo”), a company registered with the Department of Economic De...