Tønseth ousted from Kvaerner EUROPE'S largest shipbuilder Kvaerner yesterday sacked its embattled chief executive Erik Tønseth in the wake of recent poor results and a collapse in the group's share price.
Bareboat contracts upset for Larsen Niche feeder and gas/chemical carrier operator Knud I Larsen is facing legal action from a group of owners who are refusing to renegotiate bareboat contracts.
Ownership dispute hits Bulgarian yard sell-off SLOVENSKE Lodenice, one of the two parties involved in the privatisation of the Bulgarian shipyard Rousse is to take legal action after the Bulgarian government reversed an earlier decision to award it the ownership of the Danube-based shipbuilder.
Genetically modified harvest halted Greenpeace activists use a welder's torch to fix a 'danger' sign on a bin containing freshly harvested genetically modified maize during a protest action in Verdes, France. The group stopped the genetically modified crop at a site 200 km from Paris.
Kvaerner to refocus on shipbuilding SHIPBUILDING and Kvae-rner's other traditional core businesses could be poised to recoup some of their lost glory in the aftermath of yesterday's abrupt departure of Erik Tønseth from Kvaerner's top job.
New Indian port sets 50m tonnes annual target A NEW private port being built at Jamnagar in Gujarat, on India's northwestern coast, will have the facilities to import more than 50m tonnes of cargo, annually when it is ready in the first quarter of the year 2000.
Orient master investigated over oil spill The master of the ill-fated passenger ferry-Princess of the Orient who was earlier declared dead by state investigation authorities has been named as a respondent by the Philippine Coast Guard in a complaint filed before the Department of Justice.
Oil focus on West Africa The scale of offshore oil finds in the west African region have turned the world spotlight on the continent, encouraging countries seeking investment to improve political, fiscal and exploration regimes.
Internal MUA battle blamed for poor productivity INTERNAL dissension in the monopolistic MUA is being blamed for halving productivity at the Port of Sydney, which is starting to affect other ports.
Philippines allows separate pilotage fees THE Philippine Ports Authority has allowed pilots to charge separate pilotage fees for docking and undocking of ships in the country's major ports.
CSL rebuilding programme gets under way PORT Wellar Dry Dock has laid the keel for the new forebody for the JW McGiffin to mark the start of a rebuilding programme for Canada Steamship Line's Great Lakes fleet.
Brisbane receives landbridge boost QUEENSLAND Rail has scrapped handling charges on the delivery of full containers from Brisbane's Multimodal Terminal to destinations outside the Fishermans Islands complex.
Kværner's acting ceo to reassess group's strategy KVÆRNER'S acting ceo Christian Bjelland made no commitments this afternoon about the future size and shape of the Kværner Group.
Delmas boosts West African services FRENCH liner operator Delmas is significantly boosting its transport capacity to strengthen its position on the Europe-West Africa route.
Cherbourg to be European call for FastShip PHILADELPHIA-based FastShip has confirmed Cherbourg as the single European port of call for the new high-speed, trans-Atlantic transport network.
CMA-CGM announces improved results CMA-CGM, the French liner operator, has announced greatly improved results for the first half.
Melbourne builds new commodity terminal MELBOURNE is to build a A$40m ($25m) multi-bulk commodity terminal.
Kværner ceo quits ERIK Tonseth, president and ceo of Anglo-Norwegian construction and shipbuilding group Kværner, has resigned with immediate effect.
Loki expands shipping presence NORWEGIAN investment company Loki has increased its shipping business by taking an anchor handling tug/supply vessel on bareboat charter.
Color Line to sell UK service COLOR Line, the cruise ferry division of the shipping to airline Color Group, is in talks to sell its service linking Norway and the UK.
California spill traced to Liberian tanker US Coast Guard has tracked two oil slicks off San Francisco Bay to a Liberian tanker which was anchored in the bay last month.
Positioning crisis worsening says P&O Nedlloyd ASIA'S container repositioning crisis is worsening with growing trade imbalances looming on the horizon.
Liner: vers une alliance "chinoise"? Curieuse information que celle que vient de publier l'organisme "China News", qui fait allusion à la création d'une vaste alliance entre plusieurs grands armements de Chine et de Taiwan. L'information vaut ce qu'elle vaut, mais elle n'en mérite pas moins réflexion.
Les ÖBB veulent transférer leur fret sur l'Italie vers la route Les chemins de fer autrichiens - les ÖBB - étudient actuellement la possibilité de transporter leurs marchandises destinées à l'Italie par la route dès qu'elles arrivent à la frontière italienne. C'est ce qu'a déclaré Anton Hoser, un des administrateurs des Österreichische Bundesbahnen. La raison de ce transfert éventuel est l'absence de capacité suffisante en Italie.
Les Gebr. Verstreken investissent à Bucarest Noi Déja présente depuis fin 1992 au terminal ferroviaire de Bucarest, la société de transport belge Gebr.Verstreken, de Nieuwrode, s'est spécialisée dans les transports entre la Belgique et la Roumanie. Au point d'être sur le point d'investir plusieurs dizaines de millions dans la construction de magasins, sur un terrain propre contigu au terminal.
Astra Logistics offre au client un paquet informatique personnalisé et à jour La quête d'Astra Logisitics, la filiale logistique du groupe Ahlers, d'une offre d'applications informatiques flexibles, économiques et orientées vers le client a abouti à un web-site interactif. En coopération avec des fournisseurs de hardware et de software (respectivement Xylos et Organi), Astra Logistics a réussi à offrir à chaque client un paquet d'informatique personnalisé, grâce auquel le client obtient l'accès, à titre exclusif, à une partie du web-site d'Astra Logistics. Lié au service de gestion de l'expédition et du stock d'Astra Logistics, ceci garantit des informations mises à jour. L'application Internet permet en plus une accessibilité 'round the clock'.
Sydney users seek Carr's intervention Users have called on the Premier Bob Carr to intervene in the disputes restricting the flow of cargo through the Sydney's ports. The chairman of the Sydney Port Users Consultative Group, Peter Dexter, said his organisation had written to Mr Carr in response to the "unofficial industrial action" affecting the two container terminals at Botany Bay. Mr Dexter said the decision to write to Mr Carr, other NSW ministers as well as members of the board of the Sydney Ports Corporation was taken at an emergency meeting on Monday.
Contracts awarded for Melb bulk facility Following the Victorian government's green light for Grainco's new dry bulk commodity facility in Melbourne, work will start almost immediately on its construction, according to Grainco's ceo Dave Woodall. Mr Woodall said contracts had been awarded for the first stage of the project, going to a joint venture between two Victorian companies – Concrete Constructions and Cortex Resources. Construction will be completed by November next year. He said: "The terminal will store and handle non-hazardous bulk commodities, with the first stage encompassing storage for approximately 52,000 tonnes of grain, oilseeds and pulses in 20 silo structures. "Specialist berths will provide for accelerated ship loading times – with loading and unloading services provided on a 24 hour basis. "The first stage of the terminal will provide for an estimated annual throughput of between 600,000 and 900,000 tonnes of dry bulk sources from Victoria and southern New South Wales.
NRTC hints at charges backdown The National Road Transport Commission has hinted for the first time it could water down its proposed revamp of registration charges for heavy vehicles, admitting this week that some of the data used for calculating the revised charges may be outdated or flawed. The draft proposals, which were released in August to a chorus of opposition, have been widely criticised and rejected by the trucking industry and most state governments, as well as the Minister for Transport, Mark Vaile. While the commission's current proposals would involve no change to charges for about 80 per cent of Australia's heavy vehicles over 4.5 tonnes, operators of Australia's heaviest vehicles -- semi-trailers, B-doubles and roadtrains -- face a charges hike of up to 40 per cent.
PBC applauds QR charge decision The decision by Queensland Rail to scrap handling charges on the delivery of full containers from the Brisbane Multimodal Terminal (BMT) to destinations outside the Fisherman Islands complex has been welcomed by Port of Brisbane Corporation chief executive officer Graham Mulligan. With immediate effect, the $25 per 20ft and $30 per 40ft charge will no longer be applied. The announcement came after successful negotiations between the Corporation, rail bodies and commercial operators using the Fisherman Islands facility.
Kvaerner CEO Fired Kvaerner ASA ousted chief executive Erik Toenseth on Wednesday following a year-long plummet of the international group's stock price plummet. Kvaerner, hard hit by economic downturns in Asia and weak oil prices, said its overall course was unchanged. But it would accelerate efforts to consider sales of non-core assets and focus on managing the firm rather than expanding. Rumors are running rampant as to who will follow Toenseth in the top spot, with unconfirmed speculation pointing at Kjell Almskog, a head of Swiss/Swedish electrical engineering group ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.
UK P&I Club Cuts Supplementary Premium Call The UK P&I (Protection and Indemnity) Club reported it has cut an orginally planned supplementary premium call for 1997 to 25 percent from 40 percent, due to the strength of its reserves.The Club said the latest reduction is equivalent to a saving or rebate of more than 10.5 percent of the total cost to the UK P&I membership and is the fifth cut in six years.
Pegasus Adds Three To Fleet Pegasus Shipping last week reportedly boosted its tanker fleet with the purchase of three Japanese-built ships. The ships, which were reported to be bought for $42 million en bloc, are all Panamax size, built between 1981 and 1983.
Caterpillar CEO To Retire In 1999 Caterpillar Inc. said its chairman and chief executive Donald Fites will retire early next year, in accordance with the company's retirement policy, after 42 years with the world's largest construction equipment manufacturer.
Sea Launch Delays First Mission Delayed by political wranglings, it appears that Sea Launch, the satellite launch venture led by Boeing Co., has delayed its first commercial launch until sometime after March 1999. Sea Launch, which initially had planned its first commercial launch for November 1998, remains on track for its current schedule of two launches in 1999, the spokeswoman said. The program has firm commitments to launch 18 satellites through 2004, including 13 for Hughes. Work on the Sea Launch was halted over the summer by State Department concerns that Boeing had violated U.S. arms control laws by transferring military technology to its commercial partners in Russia and Ukraine.
Panama Canal Toll Collections Up The Panama Canal collected $545.7 million in revenue during fiscal 1998, surpassing the previous year's earnings by $52.1 million, the Panama Canal Commission (PCC) reported.
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