Toll from Australia boat crash may never be known

The number of people killed when a boat packed with asylum seekers was smashed to pieces on rocks at a remote Australian island may never be known, officials said Friday, as the passenger total was uncertain and bodies may be lost to the sea.
The known toll increased to 30 after two more bodies were plucked from the rough waters off Christmas Island where the wooden vessel broke apart Wednesday.
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Source: msnbc.com

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Container Ships And Bulk Tankers To Go Nuclear?

Just two weeks after two senior executives from the BMT Group Ltd., specialists in maritime design, engineering and risk management, were invited to become members of Lloyd's Register's Technical Committee came the announcement that the two organisations were joining with Greek bulk tanker and container ship operators Enterprises Shipping and Trading S.A. and US based atomic energy experts Hyperion Power in a bid to investigate the practicability of small modular nuclear reactors as the power plants for freight vessels of the future.
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Source: Handy Shipping Guide

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Navies evacuate sick crew member from pirated ship

A crew member with suspected appendicitis was evacuated Friday from a pirate-held ship a European Union Naval Force spokesman said, describing what was apparently the first medical evacuation arranged with Somali pirates.
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Source: AP

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Indonesian fishermen find old sunken ship

A sunken ship that may be several centuries old and containing green and gray ceramics has been found off remote Indonesian islands recently hit by a tsunami, officials said Thursday.
Fishermen who found the vessel believe the Oct. 26 wave off the Mentawai islands — which killed more than 500 people — lifted the 20-foot- (7-meter-) long ship from the ocean floor and pushed it closer to shore, said Yosmeri, who heads West Sumatra's Maritime and Fishery Department.
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Source: gurdian

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China fishing boat capsizes in scuffle; 1 dead

SEOUL, South Korea — A Chinese fishing boat capsized in a maritime scuffle with a South Korean coast guard ship trying to curb its illegal fishing activities Saturday, killing one fisherman and leaving two others missing, South Korea's coast guard said.
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Source: Chron

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Shipping confidence increases again

Overall confidence levels in the shipping industry have shown a further rise over the past three months, reaching their highest level since May 2008. According to the latest Shipping Confidence survey by Moore Stephens, owners, managers, charterers and brokers all feel more confident about the shipping markets in which they operate, and more optimistic about making a major investment over the coming year. The number of respondents expecting finance costs to rise over the next twelve months, having peaked at their highest levels for fifteen months in the previous survey, was down across all categories of respondent. Charterers, meanwhile, were alone in thinking that rates in the tanker and dry bulk trades were likely to fall over the next twelve months.
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Source: Maritime Sun News

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Major shipping lines set to hike rates as box shipping recovers

rench shipping giant CMA CGM has announced that it will increase rates on major trade lanes from January 1st 2011.
From Asia to North America, the fee will be USD 320 per TEU, USD 400 per FEU, USD 450 per 40 foot high cube or reefer and USD 510 per 45 footer.
From Asia to all ports in Europe, the fee is USD 250 per TEU.
To South America and the West Coast of Central America, the fee is USD 400 per TEU.
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Source: Maritime Sun News

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Repair works in Port of Singapore

The working period for repair works to Pulau Ubin jetty has been revised.

According to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's Port Marine, the works will be carried out from December 18, 2010 to March 17, 2011.

Repair work will take place 24 hours daily-excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays.

A safety boat will be in attendance at all times to warn and redirect craft in the vicinity to keep clear of the working area.

When in the vicinity of the working area, mariners are reminded to:

• Keep well clear and not to enter the working area;
• Maintain a proper lookout;
• Proceed at a safe speed & navigate with caution;
• Maintain a listening watch on VHF Channel 21 (Sembawang Control); and
• Communicate with Keppel Control on VHF Channel 21 for assistance, if required

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One missing after cargo ship runs aground in Turkey

A violent storm has forced a cargo ship onto rocks in the southern Turkish city of Antalya.
One crew member was reported missing as the other 17 were rescued, according to news reports.
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Source: ITN

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Iceberg puts Greenland’s Christmas on ice

A VESSEL holed by an iceberg earlier this week is today heading for refuge in Greenland’s port of Nuuk.
Vestlandia, a 1,525dwt reefer ship owned by Estonia’s Norfos, was approaching Upernavik in northern Greenland on the night of 15 December when it collided with an iceberg. Authorities initially feared an oil spill, so the vessel was anchored for investigation.
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Source:Safety at Sea

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Anchorhandlers to leave the North Sea market

Norwegian Deep Sea Supply sells the 1990-built AHTS vessels Sea Cougar and Sea Wolf 1 to an Asian buyer. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase sum. This means the vessels will leave the North Sea market when delivered to the new owner in the second half of 2011.
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Source:shipgaz

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Bore to open ro-ro service between Finland and Sweden

On January 31, 2011 the Finnish shipping company Bore starts a new liner service between Helsinki and Oxelösund under the name HelOx Line. Initially Bore’s 1,400 lane meter ro-ro vessel Borden will operate on the route with three weekly sailings in each direction.
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Source:shipgaz

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Great Lakes Shipyard Repairs Second Miller Boat Ferry

Great Lakes Shipyard of Cleveland, Ohio, finished maintenance and repairs on Miller Boat Line’s ferry William Market for its U.S. Coast Guard five-Year inspection. The work included repairing the ramp, installing hydraulic silencers, hull painting, blasting and painting ballast tanks, installing two new props and painting the upper deck.
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Source:Marine Link

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Pirates permit medical evacuation of sick hostage

In the early morning of December 17, the Combined Maritime Force (CMF) joined forces with Eunavfor to evacuate a crew member from the pirated MV Hannibal II after reports were received that he had a possible appendicitis.
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Source:Marine Log

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Yuexin delivers powerful 11,931kW OSV

Yuexin Shipbuilding has unveiled one of the most powerful vessels in Asia, the ‘Posh Conquest’. It is a sister vessel of the first 11,931kW OSV/AHTS built for Pacc Offshore Services.
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Source:Baird Maritime

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Baltic index slips below 2,000 point level

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index .BADI, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, fell below the 2,000 point level on Friday with slower activity on smaller panamaxes weighing on sentiment.
The index, which gauges the cost of shipping commodities including iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, fell 1.43 percent, or 29 points, to 1,999 points in a ninth successive drop and was at its lowest since Aug. 5 when it last fell below 2,000 points.
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Source:Reuters

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A “new generation” of container ships

Ship design evolves with the needs of ship owners and operators, who themselves react to a range of external pressures and circumstances. Container ships are no different from any other type in this respect, but they have in recent times been greatly affected by changing economic circumstances and environmental pressures. The latest generation of container ships reflect these changes.
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Source:Bimco

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Intermodal terminal near Port of Piraeus faces new delays

The much anticipated tendering award for the concession of a new intermodal trade terminal near the port of Piraeus in an area named Thriassion is up against new delays, this time as a result of the country’s financial crisis. The tendering award was initially slated for the end of September. Now though and after the third consecutive delay, it is expected to go on on January the 27th. Market sources have been indicating that this time around the main cause of the delay is the state’s attempt to make the new awarding process a bit more attractive for prospective bidders, in order to assure the participation of more schemes. Of course, the whole project should be up and running since 2007, with a total of 150 million euros already spent in order to prepare the relative infrastructure works, such as a direct rail line.
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Source:Hellenic Shipping News

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Seazip Offshore orders wind farm support cats

BMT Nigel Gee Ltd. has signed a design and development contract for the construction of an initial batch of four wind farm support catamarans. They are to be built by VeKa Shipbuilding BV at its Jongert, Netherlands, shipyard for operation by SeaZip Offshore Service BV.
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Source:Marine Log

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Another cold winter will boost rates

The 2010/2011 winter season in Europe has started with icy cold weather, snow and rough seas, which has given a long awaited boost to Aframaxes.
The anticipation of developing ice in the Baltic Sea propelled daily returns for North Sea Aframaxes from $4,000 per day in the first half of November to $64,000 per day on the 8th
December, said Gibson Research in its weekly report.
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Source:Tanker Operator

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Law firm acts for joint venture gas carrier set up

Norton Rose recently acted as advisor to Sungas Holdings, the chemical tanker group.
The legal firm gave advice in the creation of a joint venture gas carrier business between Sungas Holdings and Oslo listed Stolt-Nielsen.
The deal is the latest major sign of an increase in joint ventures in the shipping market. The annual Norton Rose Group Way Ahead for Transport survey revealed in November that 60% of organisations in the shipping sector are looking at joint ventures in the next 12 months - a rise from just 25% in 2009.
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Source:Tanker Operator

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Ulstein to build two PSV's on spec

Norway's Ulstein Verft has been contracted to build two Ulstein PX121 medium size platform supply vessels for a newly established company within the Ulstein Group. They will be delivered in first and third quarters of 2012.
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Source: Marine LOG

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China constructing first aircraft carrier

China is reportedly building game-changing aircraft carriers that can pave the way for ending the dominance of the United States at sea, reports say.
China is believed to be building aircraft carriers at Changxingdao Shipyard in Shanghai and is expected to launch the aircrafts in 2012 and 2014, the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun reported on Friday.
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Source: Press TV

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Shipbuilders switch from yen orders

Many Japanese shipbuilding companies are having to accept more orders in dollars because of the strong yen.
One of Japan's largest shipbuilders, Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Company, has confirmed that 55 per cent of its contracts in the six month up to September were settled in dollars, reports the Wall Street Journal.
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Source: Inside Japan

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