Ingalls cruiseships contract set to revitalise US maritime sector INGALLS Shipbuilding has won a contract worth a potential $1.4bn to build the first large cruiseships in the United States in more than 40 years. The deal is set to revitalise both the US flag and US yards.
Hyundai beats Daewoo to $500m cableship deal HYUNDAI Mipo Dockyard last night appeared to have snatched a major newbuilding contract from under the very noses of South Korean rival Daewoo by winning an order for 13 cablelaying and repair ships in a contract worth almost $500m, writes Dale Wainwright.
Asian fallout results in loss at Torm and halving of dividend Torm, the Danish bulk, tanker and liner operator, plunged into the red last year and is halving its dividend to shareholders.
Fleet expansion prompts issue at Montanari Italian shipowner Navigazione Montanari is launching a rights issue to raise up to Lire96bn ($54.1m) in capital to develop its fleet of oil and gas carriers.
Volume fall sparks US-South American trade shake-up Hamburg Sud-owned Columbus Line is to join forces with Chilean box carriers Compania Chilena de Navegacion Interoceanica (CCNI) and Compania Sud-Americana de Vapores (CSAV) on the the US east coast/South America west coast trade.
New Spanish bank shedding yard interests BSCH, the new bank formed by the merger of the second and third largest Spanish banks, has announced that its interests in shipbuilding, repair and auxiliary industries are up for sale.
US-European sectors closer to alliance PROSPECTS are growing for an unprecedented cruise marketing alliance between Europe and the US following a public request for action by two of Europe's leading industry figures.
Family folks top target list for US cruise growth Cruise shipping companies have a target market of roughly 100m holiday opportunities in the US and expect to increase this significantly as capacity increases over the next few years, according to the senior executive of the Cruise Lines International Association.
L'Exécutif flamand veut la régionalisation du transport exceptionnel L'Exécutif flamand a remis un avis négatif au gouvernement fédéral sur le projet d'Arrêté Royal concernant la circulation des véhicules pour transport exceptionnel. Cet arrêté ne concerne que des points mineurs, mais l'Exécutif le refuse car il veut que la compétence dans ce domaine soit transférée aux régions. Dans les milieux du transport routier, on est fortement opposé à une éventuelle régionalisation.
Norske Skog Logistics va gérer le flux de ses marchandises à partir d'Anvers En début d'année, le fabricant de papier norvégien Norske Skog a créé une division logistique Norske Logistics. Cette division a comme objectif "le développement et l'exécution d'une stratégie logistique pour la pâte à papier, le papier et les matériaux brûts". Dans ce contexte, une réduction des coûts de 10% devrait être réalisée en centralisant le nombre de prestataires de services logistiques. Le plus grand fabricant de papier norvégien organisait jusqu'ici les transports à partir des usines et bureaux de ventes locaux, mais pourra désormais exécuter une analyse globale du flux de marchandises à partir d'Anvers.
SIT Logistics double son parc de semi-remorques porte-coils La société ostendaise SIT Logistics a récemment pris livraison de sa centième semi-remorque porte-coils construite par Van Hool. Elle fait partie d'une commande de 130 unités au total, dont la livraison a été étalée sur un peu plus d'un an et demi. La société double ainsi son parc.
TMM opérera seul sur le transpacifique Ainsi que brièvement annoncé dans une précédente édition, l'armement TMM, devenu partenaire à 50% de la joint-venture Americana Ships, a décidé de revoir d'une manière fondamentale ses activités sur le transpacifique, optant pour une opération en solitaire. Il sort donc du service conjoint auquel participent APL, MOL, Matson Navigation et Hyundai. TMM va plutôt se concentrer sur la relation Asie-Mexique, alors que le service conjoint est plus particulièrement axé sur la desserte de la côte ouest des Etats-Unis.
Despite talks, engineers' threats continue BHP Transport vessels are still under the threat of industrial action, despite a meeting which has been called for this morning in order to resolve the dispute between the shipowner and the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers. The institute has initiated a campaign of stoppages on the company's vessels over lack of progress in enterprise agreement negotiations. Reasonable progress was made at discussions earlier this week, but a request from BHP Transport that the threat of industrial action be lifted has been denied.
Union, Freight Vic talk numbers Australia's biggest rail union, the Rail Tram and Bus Union, will meet with the new private owners of Victorian rail freight business V/Line Freight for the first time on Monday to thrash out the future job prospects and entitlements of the corporation's 1150 employees. The union said this week that while new owner Freight Victoria was expected to provide ongoing positions for several V/Line Freight staff, it admitted that job losses were anticipated with the privatisation.
Wilhelmsen reverses Africa route Falling demand in the US-West Africa trade and an opportunity to improve East Coast North America-East Coast Australia services has led Wilhelmsen Lines to return its three-ship African service to a previous format. The current pendulum service routes the Tana, Takoradi and Sochi from ECNA to West and South Africa thence Australia and return. The line will now revert to a loop pattern, sailing from ECNA to Australia/New Zealand via Panama and then on to Mauritius, South and West Africa before continuing westbound back to ECNA.
ITF wants Panama flag ban The International Transport Workers Federation's (ITF) Australian coordinator, Trevor Charles, has called on the government to ban Panamanian flag shipping from Australian trade routes after the latest tragedy at sea where six crew have perished. The disaster occurred when two bulk carriers sailing under the Panamanian flag of convenience collided 600 nautical miles south west of Guam earlier this week. Both vessels, the 38,480 GRT Halo Cygnus and the 72,167 GRT Las Sierras, were en route to Australia at the time.
GPA begins its defence The Geraldton Port Authority and the Maritime Union of Australia will finally begin a lengthy battle in the Federal Court today over a conspiracy case mounted by the MUA in November 1998. A 12-day hearing was due to begin yesterday, but was adjourned after MUA lawyer Maurice Blackburn asked the court for more time to examine documents received the previous day.
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