• Cruise centre sees record berth bookings for Dec
  180 vessel bookings made for berths this month, the highest achieved in one month
• India comes up against hurdles in privatising ports
• Bureau Veritas refutes claims by Estonia builder
• IMO looks into extending bulker rules

• Star Alliance adds broad cargo cooperation deal
  Accord will cover global network strategy, road trucking and cargo handling facilities
• Russia delays delivery of fighter jets to Vietnam
• North Korean freighter captain arrested for using fake yen bill
• Volvo eyes acquisitions in quest for 10% growth
• Top safety investigator criticises Boeing, FAA for slow inspections of fue
• BMW to unveil details of plant in Brazil

• D-Day near for new HK airport
  Many key questions still remain unanswered in the countdown to the switch from kai tak airport to the new site

• Two unusual orders and a note of caution for VLCC owners

• Evergreen seeks approval for direct calls to China
• COSCO moves offices
• Canmar orders 3,000 boxes
• Trust advises against terminal handling containers
• Double effort on hulls pays off
• Premier tells maritime industry - be more hi-tech
• KLM seeks a bigger belly
• Manila airport boosts revenue
• FAA awards contract to Lockheed Martin

• NDX expands, but still in the red
• Garuda in financial problems
• Harbor pool was uneconomic
• Number of road haulage bankruptcies grows
• Nedlloyd manager 'Businesswoman of the Year 1998'

• Nedlloyd sees bright spots in third quarter ‘97 numbers
• General Motors awards Emery Argentina route
• Suzanne christens SUSAN
• Customs requirements force Sunmar changes
• OOCL returns to roots with new Shanghai office
• Higher fares put damper on airport passenger counts

• US court sets $18m beach spill damages
  A CALIFORNIA jury has awarded $18.1m in natural resource damage assessments and penalties against tanker owner Attransco for the 1990 spill of more than 416,000 barrels of Alaskan crude from the tanker American Trader.
• UK hints at new marine pollution offence
  BRITAIN should consider making failure to protect the marine environment a criminal offence, a top civil servant told an industry audience yesterday.
• P&O Australia Ports cuts Vadhavan stake
  P&O Australia Ports has sold part of its stake in the Vadhavan port development project to one of India's top development banks, Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI).
• Norwegian fleet growth continues
  NORWAY'S nationally-owned foreign-going fleet has crossed the 1,500 mark for the first time, with an aggregate of 1,507 vessels on the books as of the last quarter of 1997, writes Rajesh Joshi.
• IACS rules mean heavier bulks
  STRUCTURAL requirements for new, single side skin bulk carriers could necessitate steelweight increas-es up to 400 tonnes in a capesize bulker.
• Kleipeda on sale with $20m tag
  LITHUANIA'S Western Shiprepair Yard, Kleipeda, has been placed on the international market by the Lithuanian government, which is hoping to sell its 92% stake in the yard for a price believed to be in the range of $18-$20m.
• Naples warned of threat to trade
  NAPLES container port is in danger of being eclipsed by Gioia Tauro, the agent for Cosco - Naples' biggest customer - warned yesterday.
• AP Moller close to Volkswerft takeover
  THE Danish shipping and shipbuilding group AP Moller, which includes the Maersk container line, is close to winning control of eastern German shipyard Volkswerft Stralsund for Dm25m ($14.4m).

• Frontline and ICB in new clash over Astro merger
  FRONTLINE Ltd and ICB Shipping have clashed again over the latter's acquisition of Astro Tankers in a $309m deal involving new shares in ICB but no cash.
• Kerala to privatise first minor port at Beypore
  AN agreement to create a Rs800m ($20.8m) BOT berth for handling petroleum products at Beypore, in India's southermost state, Kerala, is expected to be signed by January 10, 1998.
• Moller to take over Volkswerft Stralsund yard
  REPRESENTATIVES of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern have voted to sell east German shipyard Volkswerft Stralsund to its only bidder, the Danish Moller group.
• Fosens delivers Minoan's second large ropax ferry
  FOSENS Mekaniske Verksteder, the Norwegian shipbuilder, has delivered a 31,000 gt ropax ferry, named Ikarus, to its Greek owner Minoan Lines.
• Halla bankruptcy hits Jahre's suezmax plans
  BANKRUPTCY of the South Korean Halla group has knocked the plans of Norwegian shipping group Jahre Tankers to expand in the suezmax sector.
• Western Australia unveils $67m development plan
  PLANS for a new A$100m ($67m) maritime precinct have been unveiled for the Western Australian capital, Perth.
• Flying squad prepares for Melbourne dispute
  NEW evidence about a flying squad of Australian military-trained stevedores suggests the men are being prepared for a planned dispute in Melbourne.
• Lloyd's consortium launches new ports cover
  A NEW Lloyd's consortium has launched a facility that will underwrite ports and terminals on a worldwide basis.
• Drop in number of ships detained in UK ports
  THE number of ships detained in UK ports has dropped 9.7 per cent in the last 12 months, the Marine Safety Agency (MSA) announced yesterday.
• 95 per cent of Bimco members ready for ISM
  BIMCO has announced that more than 95 per cent of tonnage controlled by its members will be ISM Code certified by the July 1, 1998 deadline

• Kinnock veut un large débat sur l'efficacité des ports européens
  La Commission européenne a publié une note de discussion sur les ports maritimes et l'infrastructure maritime et a invité les instances européennes, les autorités portuaires, les opérateurs et l'industrie maritime à ouvrir le débat en la matière. Dans la note de discussion, élaborée par les services du commissaire européen aux Transports Neil Kinnock, la Commission dit souhaiter un débat européen sur les mesures nécessaires à un fonctionnement plus efficace des ports maritimes et intérieurs dans l'UE. Kinnock veut intégrer les ports maritimes et intérieurs dans les réseaux de transport européens.
• ADPO reprend Ethyl Additive
  Antwerp Distribution & Product Operations (ADPO) a conclu un accord avec Ethyl Corporation pour la reprise d'Ethyl Additive, la filiale gantoise du groupe américain. Les activités d'Ethyl Additive sont très similaires à celles d'ADPO, qui, grâce à cette reprise, réalise une expansion importante de ses activités de transbordement, d'entreposage, de traitement et de blending de vracs liquides. La reprise prendra effet à la fin de l'année. Ethyl Gand deviendra alors Gent Processing & Logistics (GPL).
• C. Paulus: résoudre d'urgence les problèmes de mobilité à Anvers
  "Dans le cadre de mon initiative visant à faire de la province d'Anvers une plate-forme de mobilité, j'ai voulu faire comprendre à Bruxelles qu'il n'est plus possible de se cacher derrière l'argument selon lequel on ne sait pas ce qu'on veut à Anvers, pour attendre de prendre des décisions en ce qui concerne le port et les infrastructuires de transport. C'est d'une seule voix qu'Anvers a formulé ses exigences et j'espère que le gouvernement flamand trouvera rapidement des solutions pour s'attaquer rapidement aux problèmes." C'est ce qu'a déclaré le gouverneiur de la province d'Anvers Camille Paulus à l'occasion du banquet qu'a donné récemment le VBG (association des gestionnaires de flux de marchandises), manifestation organisée dans le cadre de son 125e anniversaire.

• Lufthansa selects forwarders to test pilot cargo program
• Hong Kong's air cargo complex near completion
• Europe warns US on shipbuilding subsidy treaty
• EDI future turns on Internet impact
• US, Japan to resume discussions on air sector
• TWA: Union workers left us in lurch
• Teamsters election overseers need cash
• Canada maritime reform bill leaps first hurdle
• Atlanta Motor Lines to close
• Port sites on Net focus on access
• Supply-chain software sends data upstream from consumer
• Air express carriers rethink operations

• Patrick, MUA seek solutions
  The Maritime Union of Australia and Patrick will sit down this afternoon in an attempt to avert a potential conflict when the company introduces new working arrangements in the port of Melbourne on Monday. However, a fresh conflict appears to be developing in Sydney.
• FANAL close to N.American goal
  MELBOURNE: Fesco Australian North America Line is closer to its goal of a uniform fleet of containerships with the arrival in Australia last week of the 1158 TEU Mekhanik Kalyuzhniy. The 14,140 DWT vessel and her soon-to-be-introduced sister, Mekhanik Moldovanov, both acquired from Cypriot owner Klaus E. Oldendorff, replace the Kapitan Serykh and Anadyr on FANAL’s West Coast North American service to provide a fleet of six, c.1100 TEU pure containerships, all built since 1990.
• Pacific rationalisation agreed
  Shipping services between Australia and the South Pacific will be rationalised next week following a co-operation agreement between four carriers in the trade:Australian Pacific Container Line, Neptune Shipping Line, Pacific Direct Line and Pacific Forum Line.
• Grain rush expected
  Grain terminals at New South Wales ports are preparing for a busy shipping season following a harvest which has already topped 4.5 million tonnes. In the week ending 8 December, receivals at GrainCorp terminals passed the 4.5 million tonne mark with most crops now expected to be stripped by Christmas.