Fleet of Idle Capacity Continues to Grow
Idled ocean container capacity has reached 550,000 TEUs, with 210 vessels out of work as carriers continue to cut or suspend services in the face of sharply falling demand on key liner trade routes.
The idle capacity, up from 420,000 TEUs in December, accounts for 4.5 percent of the existing world container ship fleet in TEUs, according to AXS-Alphaliner, the Paris-based consultant. This compares with 3.5 percent of the world fleet that was idled in the depths of the 2002 slump. Read More…
Maritime City On Track
Dubai Maritime City, the purpose-built maritime centre, continues to achieve major development milestones and is progressing towards its 2012 completion date.
Infrastructure for the Industrial Precinct of the development is set to continue significantly during this year, making it fully operational ahead of schedule with 85 per cent of the work complete. Read More…
A Farsighted Approach To The Crewing Crisis
Take advantage of industry funds to continue cadet training programmes in the face of a recession, advised a leading employers representative.
“Any company or industry that shuts its doors to the recruitment and training of its next generation of skilled workers will send a clear and long-lasting message that it is in terminal decline.”
David Dearsley, secretary general, International Maritime Employers’ Committee (IMEC) Read More…
Shipping Sector Set For Choppy Waters
The shipping industry is expected to sail in choppy waters this year due to the weakening world economy.
As the global economy inches closer towards recession, it will trigger a domino effect that will affect the industry.
As much of international trade is carried by seaborne transport, the industry will surely feel the pinch of slumping global consumption, production and trade volume. Read More…
Weyerhaeuser Halts Sale Of 7 Shipping Vessels
Forest-product supplier Weyerhaeuser Co. said Monday that it has stopped trying to sell its seven oceangoing freighters, citing tight financial markets and weak demand for their maritime shipping services. Read More…
Malaysian Helicopter Saves Ship From Somali Pirates
A Malaysian military helicopter, taking off from a warship sailing nearby, scared away Somali pirates trying to hijack an Indian vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said.
The incident, the first of 2009, involved an Indian ship with a dead weight tonnage of 92,687 tonnes, said Noel Choong, an official from the Kuala Lumpur-based IMB.
“Two small boats carrying pirates came close to the Indian vessel and started firing on the bridge and the accommodation area,” Choong told Reuters. Read More…
Somali Pirates Seize Egyptian Ship
Somali pirates seized an Egyptian merchant ship off the Somali coast on Thursday and were taking it to Somalia with the crew of 28 Egyptians as hostages, a foreign ministry official said.
Ahmed Rizk, an assistant foreign minister, told reporters that a ship called Blue Star had been sailing east with a cargo of 6,000 tonnes of urea. “We were told that the abductors were about 15 people, some of them armed with non-light weapons,” he said.
The Egyptian government said in December it was ready to take part in an international naval force to tackle piracy off the coast of Somalia.
Several major shipping companies have decided to divert ships from the Suez Canal route to the Cape of Good Hope route around Africa, cutting into Egypt’s revenue from the canal, which is a major hard currency earner for the Arab country.
Warships from Britain, India, Greece, Italy, Russia, Turkey and the United States are already patrolling the seas where the pirates operate, so far with limited success. Rizk said Egyptian authorities were working to establish “the necessary contacts” to release the ship.
Somali pirates captured an Egyptian ship in September but released it after 20 days of negotiations with Egyptian intelligence (source: reuters).
First Indian Maritime University In City
A maritime academic institution, the Indian Maritime University, was inaugurated on Wednesday by chief minister M Karunanidhi. The university, the first of its kind in the country, is expected to play a vital role in producing professionals for the shipping industry.
Situated on a sprawling sea side venue at Uthandi, on the East Coast Road in the city, the institution will begin its first academic year in June 2009. Union shipping minister, T R Baalu, who was also present on the occasion, said the university has tied up with Dalian Maritime University for MBA in port management, with Shanghai Maritime University and Antwerp University for MBA in international transportation and logistics management, with University of Malta for a degree in maritime law and with Delft University, Netherlands for a degree course in dredging. Read More…
German Warship Thwarts Hijack By Somali Pirates
Quick action by a German warship halted an attack on an Egyptian bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday by Somali pirates trying to hijack it, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said.
The rescue was a sign that the foreign navies patrolling the key shipping lane linking Europe and Asia were adopting more effective tactics against the surge in piracy in waters off Somalia this year, the Kuala Lumpur-based IMB said. Read More…
Japan Launches First Solar Cargo Ship
The world’s first cargo ship partly propelled by solar power took to the seas on Friday in Japan, aiming to cut fuel costs and carbon emissions when automakers export their products.
Auriga Leader, a freighter developed by shipping line Nippon Yusen K.K. and oil distributor Nippon Oil Corp., took off from a shipyard in the western city of Kobe, officials of the two firms said.
The huge freighter capable of carrying 6,400 automobiles is equipped with 328 solar panels at a cost of 150 million yen (1.68 million dollars), the officials said. Read More…
