Costa Concordia master seeks plea bargain as trial begins Schettino accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship
Chemoil tanker hijacked off Gabon Attack highlights pirates' expanding reach across the Gulf of Guinea
Restis clashes again with anti-Iran lobbyist Greek owner files libel lawsuit against UANI chief as US group demands a probe
CSSC skirts the crunch Shipyards can still gain sizeable credit lines from state-owned banks
Buss fleet meets its reserve price at auction Unnamed players buy nine general cargoships at forced sale in Rotterdam
Oakland welcomes new boss as board clears way for mega-terminal Lytle moves from Long Beach to oversee expansion plans
Earnings tumble $10,000 in a week for VLCCs shipping Middle East oil Forecasts are gloomy as August loading programme starts
Gothenburg LNG import terminal plan wins European funding Swedish port collaborates with Rotterdam
Housing upturn fails to boost the top two US box ports Lack of organic growth leads Los Angeles and Long Beach to poach each other's cargo
Korea Development Bank proposes $1.7bn STX shipyard rescue package Cash-strapped shipbuilder is on track to complete voluntary rehabilitation
Box carriers seek to clarify China's new tax regulations Maersk and others query recent ministry circular on VAT
China State Shipbuilding Corp secures $6.5bn credit line State-owned giant signs agreement with Industrial Bank despite talk of credit crunch
Maersk joins Asia-Europe rate push Danish giant defends increase, citing demands of service spread and reliability
Inactive fleet shrinks Laid-up tonnage is little changed as carriers gear up for peak season
Euronav slides deeper into the red Owner blames crude tanker oversupply
Pay up and look big Shipowners should see insurance for unpaid wages under abandonment as an obligation
Mornington Peninsula box terminal could open ahead of schedule Port of Hastings plans new capacity ahead of state government time frame
NYK raises its participation in Brazilian offshore Japanese giant will operate two additional FPSOs in joint venture
Ma takes the helm at Cosco's flagship listed unit China Cosco Holdings appoints 60-year-old veteran to replace Wei as chairman
Evergas rejects Solvang move to dissolve ethylene joint venture Gas carrier claims Oslo exchange statement breaches their agreement
UK acts to counter jamming of global positioning systems Stations on south and east coast to offer alternative position, navigation and timing data if GPS fails
Berlin slashes ocean cargo forecast BERLIN has sharply lowered its long-term port throughput forecast in preparation for its next transport infrastructure plan
Spain's yards warn EU peers: who's next? PYMAR, Spain's shipyard representative, warned today that the EC's ruling on paying back aid could be applied elsewhere in the EU and boost Asian competitors
EU funding granted for Gothenburg LNG facility SWEDEN'S Gothenburg port said today it has been granted 305M krona ($45.9M) in EU funding for the LNG terminal it plans
Nordea sees 'stabilising' NORDEA today pointed to signs that the global shipping crunch might be on the wane
Jamaica hub volumes slide TRANSHIPMENT at Kingston Container Terminal continues to deteriorate, according to new figures released by the Port Authority of Jamaica
China to import more US maize SINOGRAIN plans to raise imports of US maize by more than 1M tonnes, with prices in China hovering at $10 per bushel
EC orders Spanish yard pay-back THE EC ruled today that tax benefits to Spain's shipyards under Madrid's former ship finance tax-lease scheme must be recovered
BH warns seizures could spark losses SINGAPORE shipbuilder BH Global Marine said today it might incur losses after two vessels were taken from its yard in Batam, Indonesia
Korea's EXIM lending $3Bn to yards KEXIM, tHE Export-Import Bank of Korea, said it will raise funding for compatriot shipyards to $3Bn this year
4 migrants killed in sinking FOUR asylum seekers were killed when their boat overturned in heavy seas, the AC&BP confirmed today
Solvang, Evergas grapple over ethylene JV DANISH petrochemical gas shipping specialist Evergas said today that it has initiated arbitration and injunctions proceedings against Norwegian LPG carrier Solvang over the latter's move to dissolve their joint venture
Ningbo Maritime Court's cases double CHINA's Ningbo Maritime Court said today its cases more than doubled to 4,023 in 2012 year on year, in a dramatic indication of China's weakened shipping markets
Modec grabs Hess deal JAPAN's floating production systems contractor Modec told Fairplay today it will provide engineering and management services for a Hess platform
Keppel shares keep 'neutral' DMG & Partners has kept its 'neutral' rating on Keppel Corp shares after the yard clinched another order from Mexico's Grupo R for a $206M jack-up rig
Scomi wins coal contract MALAYSIAN shipowner Scomi Energy Services has won a 158.7M ringgit ($50M) contract to ship coal for compatriot TNB Fuel Services
Australia's Goods Imports Dropped 8 Percent in June Australia's international merchandise imports in June were A$18.4 billion (about $17.0 billion), falling 8 percent from $18.5 billion in May, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In seasonally adjusted terms, goods imports fell 2 percent between May and June to $18.6 billion. Intermediate and other merchandise goods fell 7 percent...
Truck Rates Likely to Begin Rising as Capacity Tightens FTR Associates' Shippers Conditions Index for May was basically unchanged from the level of the last few months at a reading of negative 7.5. The SCI level is indicative of tight capacity, but only modest rate hikes by truckload carriers, according to FTR. The company forecasted in acceleration in rates for...
MOL Comfort May Have Had Hull Design Flaws Source: gCaptain's "A Look Back: MOL Comfort Incident Photos [25 Photos]"The breaking apart and subsequent sinking of the bow and stern sections of the MOL Comfort in the Indian Ocean this month may have been caused by the same structural flaws that caused the 2007 wreck of the MSC Napoli. The MOL...
Toll's New Jersey Truckers Vote to Unionize Long-haul and local truck drivers at Toll Global Forwarding's Carteret, N.J., location voted 62-28 for representation by the Teamsters union, which last year won a similar referendum for the company's Los Angeles drivers. The National Labor Relations Board's Newark regional office said the vote was 62 for Teamsters representation, 28 against....
Norfolk Southern Upgrades Pennsylvania Rail Line Norfolk Southern has completed $22.6 million in track, bridge and signal improvements along an 85-mile rail line through Pennsylvania's Monongahela Valley that serves five coal mines. The maintenance improvements started with a partial shutdown of train traffic on June 24, before a full shutdown on June 29. About 400 NS employees...
Report: US Container Volume Growth Lower Than Expected The U.S. economic recovery has not brought as much container volume growth as expected, according to an Asian transportation report by Jefferies, a global investment banking firm. In the first half of 2013, U.S. container volume growth continued to track below retail sales growth, a reversal of the relation of the...
US Industrial Production Climbs in June U.S. Industrial Production Index Full-size image The U.S. Industrial Production Index rose 0.3 percent in June 2013 from the month prior, the first increase in three months, according to the latest retail report from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. This put the index even with the five-year high...
Con-way Freight Enhances US-Mexico Service Con-way Freight has enhanced its Mexico service offering with the introduction of online tracking, a 24-hour customer resource center and new Web tools for tendering and managing shipments between the U.S. and Mexico. Con-way Freight, No. 2 on JOC's 2012 Top 25 Less-Than-Truckload Carriers list, recently conducted a survey that showed...
US Intermodal Rates Rise U.S. overall spot rates, week of July 15, 2013 Full-size image The composite index of U.S. intermodal rates for the week of July 15 rose $20 from the week before, a result of increases in all directional indices, according to data on all-inclusive 53-foot door-to-door spot pricing quoted by railroads and provided by...
Trucking, Rail Hit Gusher in 2012 The amount of crude oil delivered by rail and truck to U.S. refineries is soaring, climbing 62.6 percent in 2012 thanks to rising shale oil production output. The two transportation modes delivered 165.5 million barrels of oil to refineries last year, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That's still...
Ocean Freight Forwarding Posts Double-Digit Growth as Air Freight Sector Falters The ocean freight forwarding market posted double-digit growth in 2012 while the air cargo sector declined amid ongoing modal shifts, according to a new report. The overall global freight forwarding market grew by 3.1 percent to $125.85 billion last year, almost entirely due to an 11.5 percent increase in the sea...
Pilot Flying J Settles Fuel Rebate Lawsuit With Some Trucking Firms Pilot Flying J station in Nephi, Utah, in March 2012. Photo by 5of7. License: CC BY-SA 2.0Pilot Flying J has reached a settlement with eight trucking firms that filed federal lawsuits against the truck stop operator. The trucking companies charged that Pilot operated a fraudulent rebate scheme on the purchases of...
Work Begins on New NFI $9.3 Million Pa. Warehouse NFI, a New Jersey-based supply chain company, and Hillwood, a real estate developer, have broken ground on a distribution site in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, which will provide warehousing services on the East Coast. NFI, which will invest more than $9.3 million in the project, will be the tenant for a new...
Christiansen's Kalama Facility to Support Forest Products Sector Christiansen Enterprises has moved into a 10,500-square-foot facility at Washington's Port of Kalama to meet increasing demand from the forest products industry for its dry kilns, parts and services. Christian Enterprises provides kilns, parts and on-site services for forest products companies such as Weyerhaeuser, Hampton Forest Products, Georgia Pacific, WKO and...
Antwerp Container Traffic Falls Antwerp's container traffic declined 1.7 percent in the first half of 2013 from a year earlier, but total throughput was 2 percent higher. Container traffic dipped to 4.29 million 20-foot-equivalent units, compared with 4.63 million TEUs in the first half of 2012, but the Belgian port claimed it still retains its...
Congress Calls for FAA Focus on NextGen WASHINGTON - Members of Congress, along with the Department of Transportation's Inspector General, on Wednesday urged the Federal Aviation Administration to focus on modernization of nation's air traffic system, as funding for the long-delayed, over-budget initiative tightens. Although passenger airlines will likely enjoy most of the benefits of the Next Generation...
Pacorini Global Services Fully Acquired by Diversified Port Holdings Diversified Port Holdings, an asset-based logistics company, has agreed to acquire 100 percent of Pacorini Global Services, based in New Orleans. Although operated by DPH, which is the parent company of Seaonus and Portus, since 2007, 50 percent of the ownership of the stevedoring company remained with the Pacorini family. Now,...
Drewry's Trans-Pacific Rate Flat Drewry Container Rate Benchmark, July 17, 2013 Full-size image Drewry's Hong Kong-Los Angeles Container Rate Benchmark remained unchanged in the week of July 17, according to the latest release of the Drewry Hong Kong-Los Angeles Container Rate Benchmark, after giving up half of the gains achieved around the July 1 general rate increase. The...
Marten Transport's Profit Continued to Rise in Second Quarter Marten Transport today reported its net income in the second quarter of 2013 was $7.7 million, inching up 1.1 percent from $7.6 million in the second quarter of 2012. It was the 13th consecutive year-over-year increase in quarterly net income, according to Randolph L. Marten, chairman and CEO of the North American...
More weapons found Panama has found two more containers of weapons on a North Korean ship detained in the country.
Mexican orders duo Naviera Integral has ordered a pair of fast crew supply boats at Damen.
Schettino plea proposed Costa Concordia master Francesco Schettino proposed a plea deal that would see him agree to serve three years and five months in prison.
Court's arrow sharpened An affiliate of Nobu Su's Today Makes Tomorrow (TMT) has scored an appeals court win against China's HNA Group in a ruling that reaffirms the scope US courts' ability to "pierce the corporate veil" in shipping disputes.
Titan moves goalposts Struggling Titan Petrochemical is attempting to renegotiate a deal to sell its shipyard division in the belief it could be on the verge of breaking into the offshore industry.
Bank calls for cull A dramatic cull of suezmax tonnage is required to keep earnings from striking and sticking at all time lows, DVB says.
Tsuneishi sells shipyard Japan's Tsuneishi Shipbuilding is selling one of its two domestic shipyards to rival Imabari.
Remarkable red awaits Remarkable losses await Neptune Orient Lines and China Shipping Container Lines in the second quarter, a leading analyst warns.
Spanish yard bill cut The European Commission has confirmed Spanish shipyards must repay some of the money gained through a tax leasing scheme - but the bill will not be as big as first feared.
IRISL refocuses State-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) is concentrating its operations on East Asian trade due to western sanctions.
Unacceptable risk A UK accident report has blamed poor seamanship and a bad deck design for a fatal accident on board a Sincere Navigation capesize.
BWO stretches one BW Offshore (BWO) has agreed a contract extension for one of its floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units off Nigeria.
Cotemar doubles up Mexico's Cotemar has declared an option for a second accommodation vessel at Cosco Nantong Shipyard in China
Boxship abandoned A German containership is adrift in the Indian Ocean after suffering a serious fire, but all 17 crew are safe.
Cuba owns up Cuba has admitted that a North Korean cargoship detained in Panama was holding weapons belonging to it.
Miss hurts Euronav Euronav stock felt the squeeze this morning after a disappointing second quarter report from the Belgian owner.
Raising the Baltic Ace The Netherlands is due to tender soon for the removal of the sunken Ray Car Carriers vessel Baltic Ace.
Fewer loans, higher profit Nordea has recorded improved income from its shipping and offshore division during the first half.
Geden confirms hijack Geden Lines has confirmed the hijacking of one of its vessels in an unprecedented strike off Gabon.
Bimini gets all-clear A Genting fast ferry has been cleared to sail to the Bahamas two weeks later than originally scheduled.
Ceyhan turned off again Tanker loadings of Iraqi crude at Turkey's Ceyhan have stopped again after another possible leak.
Port back in business Condor Ferries is resuming its cross-Channel run from Weymouth in England, 18 months after the harbour wall started to collapse.
Hellenic wins price cut Hellenic Carriers looks to have shaved almost 25% off the cost of two kamsarmax bulkers ordered in China three years ago.
NYK scraps VLOC NYK has reportedly sent an elderly converted ore carrier for demolition at a scrap yard in India, brokers report.
Greek bulker held A Greek-owned panamax bulker has been arrested in Singapore, according to documents from the local Sheriff's office.
Scomi bags coal deal Scomi Energy Services Bhd has won an RM158.7m ($50m) bulk coal affreightment contract with TNB Fuel Services.
Ocean forwarding propped growth in 2012 In the report, Global Freight Forwarding 2012, Transportation Intelligence said the overall market grew to $125.9 billion, with ocean freight forwarding contributing $63.2 billion and air freight offering up $62.6 billion.
Maersk's Skou says lower container growth here to stay The Danish line's CEO Søren Skou said this week he expects demand growth for containerized cargo to remain in the 4 to 5 percent range, not the heady 10 percent annual growth seen prior to the economic downturn.
Charleston TEUs increase 4% in June Container traffic at the Port of Charleston grew 4 percent to 125,257 TEUs in June compared to the same month last year, according to the South Carolina Ports Authority. June also capped a strong first half for the South Atlantic port.
CSX earnings up 4% Total revenue increased 2 percent to $3.07 billion for the Class 1 East Coast railroad. For the first six months of 2013, net earnings grew by 3 percent to $994 million, and revenue ticked up 1 percent to $6.03 billion.
St. Lawrence Seaway sails higher on grain
Cargo management prepares for AA-US Airways merger
Crude climbs as US inventories drop for third consecutive week Prices fluctuated after EIA said stockpiles dropped in the week ending July 12.
Wartsila to retrofit German ferry with dual-fuel engines Ferry will be fitted with two 6-cylinder Wartsila 20DF dual-fuel generating sets and a Wartsila LNGPac.
Fujairah bunker prices struggle for direction But Suez prices firm.
Prices soften in Rotterdam Prices losing ground at most ports.
Bunker sales up at Panama Monthly distillate sales climb as fuel oil sales fall.
Hong Kong: Fuel switch could become mandatory in 2015 Regulatory proposal to be discussed this month; participation in voluntary fuel switch incentive scheme is limited.
Dan-Bunkering: Dubai 'open for business' Expansion in pipeline, company says.
Asian IFO prices remain stable Adequate supplies were available across all key ports.
Dual-fuel harbour tug launched in China TCNOOC 521 is first of two LNG-powered vessels built for CNOOC Energy Development.
Sunken vessel still leaking bunkers Lone Star sank at mouth of the Igushik River in Dillingham, Alaska.
Bunkering firm extends helping hand to stranded crew Crew on two ships getting fuel and supplies while situation is sorted out.
Call for onshore power facility at Hong Kong cruise terminal Onshore power facility should be constructed 'at once', says CEO of Clean Air Network.
Petrobras signs billion plus financing agreement Facility to finance business from Japanese companies.
EU: Bunker fuel possible source of tax revenue European Commission looking at 'innovative' sources of finance.
The Suez Canal Authority has announced that it will introduce surcharges on transit tariffs through the Egyptian canal for most major cargo vessels, effective July 15.
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