Conrad Industries, Inc. announced the award of a contract for the construction of a ferry, and the signing of contracts for the construction of sixteen barges and a major ferry repair, with a total value of $36.6 million.
The Texas Department of Transportation awarded Conrad a contract for the construction of a passenger/vehicle ferry scheduled for delivery during 2009 with a contract price of $22.5 million. The ferry will transport up to 70 cars and work the Galveston terminal.
Tangsteel Group, the largest steel company in Hebei Province, said it would team up with a top global shipping company to build and operate its own shipping fleet to cut transportation costs.
Odense Steel Shipyard Ltd. has concluded contracts with Carras Hellas Group, Greece, for a series of newbuilding Capesize bulk carriers.
China Oilfield Services, the drilling and equipment arm of top Chinese offshore oil producer CNOOC group, is in talks to buy a foreign firm this year in an acquisition that would dwarf its purchase of Russia's STU.
Cargotec's MacGregor business area providing marine cargo handling and offshore solutions has received an order for 32 ship cranes from Shanghai Shipyard.
Marine electronics manufacturer Garmin will sponsor this year's British Marine Electronics Association (BMEA) Conference, to be held on October 10 at the Novotel Hotel in Southampton.
Havila Shipping ASA and Phoenix International, Inc. signed a 10-year contract, with additional option years, for the new build Subsea Construction Vessel, Havyard 858.
The vessel is scheduled for delivery from Havyard Leirvik during the summer of 2008, and will support oil and gas industry initiatives in the US Gulf of Mexico. The contract has been entered into on market terms. Phoenix International, Inc. provides comprehensive marine services in subsea construction support, ROVs, underwater welding repair, conventional and one-atmosphere diving, deep ocean search and recovery, submarine rescue, engineering design and systems development.
The Vinashin Victory oil tanker owned by the Bien Dong Transport Company, a member of the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group, became the first Vietnamese ship to anchor at a U.S. port.
Visakhapatnam Port will handle Panamax vessels with 1 metre draft from October 1.
Iran is set to further boost its rising crude oil exports to Asia, as Opec's second-biggest producer is close to concluding its first term contract with India's Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).
National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is discussing a four-month deal with BPCL, as the Indian state firm looks to replace imports of costly Yemeni Masila crude, a BPCL official said. The proposed deal comes at a time when Iran is increasing its crude exports to Asia this year, as threats of sanctions against its nuclear ambitions have faded off for the time being.
BPCL is also hoping to marginally raise its imports of Saudi Arab Medium crude. The official said BPCL received assurance from Saudi Arabia for additional supplies of 250,000 tonnes on top of the 3.5 m tonnes supplied under a term deal this year.
Thirty container ships were stuck outside the Belgian ports of Antwerp and Ghent on Tuesday morning as pilots continued a partial strike.
The proposed strike by port and shipyard workers from the month-end to press for their long-pending demands has been put off till September 19, the day the Labour Department will hold further conciliatory talks.
The second container terminal at the Mundra Port received its first container vessel last week.
A subsidiary of Horizon Offshore Inc. has been awarded a contract from Hindustan Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. to supply equipment for a project offshore India, signaling the company's entrance into the Indian market.
Horizon Marine Construction (Mauritius) Ltd. will supply, transport and install an offshore wellhead, platform, topsides and subsea pipeline. Horizon, a Houston marine construction company, said the project calls for the transportation and installation of a four pile jacket and deck, and installation of 57 kilometers gas transportation pipeline.
Maersk Line said it will begin a direct service between the Far East and West Africa on Sept. 3 and revise the port rotation on an existing service between the regions.
The Far East-West Africa 2 (FEW2) service will connect Port Klang, Malaysia, and Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia, in the Far East with three West Africa ports. The company has also renamed and revised the schedule of its current WAF 10 service. Meanwhile the Far East-West Africa 1 (FEW1) service will connect Nansha on the Pearl River Delta in China, Hong Kong, and Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia with these West Africa portsNamibia, Ghana and Nigeria.
An American court has ordered a Singapore shipping firm to pay a US$10-million penalty for an oil spill, after one of its ships ran aground near an Alaskan wildlife haven.
The mishap killed thousands of migratory birds, sparking a US$100-million cleanup. The Malaysian-flagged tanker Selendang Ayu, owned by IMC Shipping, ran aground and sank near Unalaska Island, off the south-western coast of Alaska on Dec 8, 2004. IMC Shipping is the shipping arm of Singapore-based IMC Group, which also has business in property and natural resources development.
On Wednesday, the United States Justice Department said that the company, one of the world's largest privately held shipping groups, would pay the US$10 million criminal fine, of which US$3 million would be for community service in the polluted area, while US$1 million would be used to help the wildlife haven.
Two of Mexico's three main oil-exporting ports in the southern Gulf of Mexico have been reopened following the passage of Hurricane Dean, but production was still suspended as officials assessed possible damages to offshore rigs.
An Indonesian sailing ship which ran aground on a south-east Queensland beach is unlikely to be towed to port until next week.
Hurricane Dean has been downgraded to a tropical storm after hitting Mexico for the second time this week.
Dean was a Category Two hurricane with gusts of up to 100mph before it weakened after landing at the eastern state of Veracruz. Wind speeds dropped to 70mph as it lurched inland but concerns remained about potential flash floods. Up to 51cm of rain were expected to swell rivers around villages in mountainous regions prone to mudslides. The Veracruz authorities have evacuated more than 20,000 people from low-lying coastal areas.
On Tuesday, Dean battered Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, toppling trees and houses and causing flooding. It also damaged houses and flooded streets in neighbouring Belize.
The hurricane initially hit Yucatan as a maximum Category Five storm but quickly weakened. It regained strength over the Gulf of Mexico, where it slammed into oil and gas platforms, but did not cause any significant damage to refineries.
There have been no reports of deaths in Mexico, but the hurricane claimed at least 13 lives in the eastern Caribbean. With hurricane Dean losing its strength all tropical storm and hurricane warnings have been canceled.
The 2007 conference of the International Union of Marine Insurance in Copenhagen is set for next month.
The four-day program of committee meetings will witness keynote speeches, presentations, panel discussions and workshops covering all branches of marine insurance. With over two weeks still to go to the start on September 9, the organizing committee from the Danish Insurance Association reports that more than 750 people are expected. The core of this attendance will be 500 marine underwriters from 41 of IUMIs 52 member national associations.
Nine people were killed and 60 injured by a tornado in China's Zhejiang Province, with two others being killed by typhoon Sepat in Fujian Province, that hit the state on Monday.
Abu Dhabi Ship Building Co, may set up a new shipyard for commercial vessels to tap demand from the region’s booming offshore oil and gas industry, an official said.
Mexican authorities have evacuated tourist resorts and shut down offshore oil facilities ahead of the potentially catastrophic arrival of Hurricane Dean.
The storm has reached Category Five - the highest strength - as it rushes towards Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula with winds of up to 160mph (255km/h). Thousands of tourists have already left the area. Category Five storms are rare - only three have hit the United States since record-keeping began.
Genco Shipping & Trading Limited announced that it has taken delivery of the Genco Augustus, a January 2007-built 180,000 dwt Capesize vessel.
Three Indian warships will arrive in Manama on Tuesday on a four-day visit as part of the Indian Navy's overseas deployment to the Gulf.
The ships, INS Delhi, INS Beas and INS Jyoti, are part of the Western and Eastern Naval Commands based in Mumbai and Visakhapatnam respectively. Over the years, Indian warships have regularly paid visits to ports in the Gulf, reaffirming their presence and solidarity for peace with countries in the region, said Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty. The present visit seeks to foster maritime goodwill between India and Bahrain that share rich cultural and maritime heritage.
Trees have been uprooted and roofs ripped off houses in southern Jamaica, as Hurricane Dean devastated through the Caribbean.
The storm, with winds of up to 230km/h, careered along the country's south coast, its eye passing some miles away out to sea. Dean has already claimed at least six lives in the eastern Caribbean. Haiti and the Dominican Republic were spared the worst as Dean passed to the south overnight - damage was limited to flooding in coastal areas. Airports have been closed, a 48-hour curfew is in place and the island's power company switched off electricity. The US has said it is prepared to fly in aid if necessary.
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About 1,000 emergency shelters have been opened, but just 47 were occupied. As heavy rain began to fall, there were reports of mudslides north of Kingston and the St Mary area on the island's north-east coast. Areas of the Cayman Islands and Mexican coast were also evacuated, amid meteorological reports the storm could intensify into a Category Five hurricane after it leaves Jamaica.
After a seven-hour closure on Saturday after a major fire, shipping has resumed at Sharjah’s Port Khalid, police and port authorities said yesterday.
Port Khalid was closed for most of the day on Saturday while emergency crews battled overnight to put out the blaze that broke out around 11.22 p.m. on Friday. Activity at the port did not stop except for a short period of not more than seven hours to facilitate the security forces bringing in the necessary fire-extinguishing equipment, said Rashed Al-Leem, director general of Sharjah’s Hamiriyah Ports, Customs and Duty Free Zone.
US marine contractor Global Industries has signed a $17 million contract with Japan Vietnam Petroleum Company (JVPC) to install pipelines for the Rang Dong and Phoung Dong field development projects off Vietnam.
A multinational consortium led by Italy's Eni is preparing for talks with the Kazakh government on the future development of the giant Kashagan oilfield, said chief executive of Eni.
Kazakhstan has said it wanted a bigger share of revenues from the world's biggest oilfield discovery in 30 years in compensation for delays in pumping the first oil from the Caspian Sea wells and threatened to strip Eni of its role as project operator. The much-awaited talks with the Kazakh government were delayed by parliament elections in the Central Asian state and would start before the end of August.
The Atlantic season's first hurricane is rapidly approaching the islands in the eastern Caribbean, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) says.
It says Dean has top sustained winds of 100mph (160km/h), making it a Category Two hurricane. A hurricane warning has been issued for Martinique, Guadeloupe and other French dependencies, and also for Dominica and St Lucia. The hurricane centre was some 305 miles east of Martinique at 2100 GMT. Forecasters said the storm could dump as much as 10 inches of rain in some mountainous areas, which could trigger flash floods and mudslides.
A tropical warning remains in several other islands of the Lesser Antilles, and a tropical storm watch is in place in the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, the NHC says. It says Dean is moving westwards at about 23mph, and this motion is expected to continue on Friday. For more details
Malaysian state oil and gas firm Petronas is keen on taking a role in Saudi Arabia's Jizan oil refinery, chief executive Hassan Marican said.
Crowley Maritime Corporation christened the third of ten new 185,000-barrel Articulated Tug-Barge (ATB) tank vessels that the company will take delivery of by the end of 2010.
Sea consortium is launching another service to the Indian port of Chennai from north China starting from September.
Russian gas giant Gazprom has handed the Vyborg shipbuilding plant a $2.3 billion contract to build drilling platforms for the Shtokman gas field, according to reports.
French shipping major CMA CGM is set to pick up a 26% stake in a subsidiary of Ahmedabad-based Rs 18,000-crore Adani group, making it the biggest joint venture in the country’s ports sector.
Once the deal comes through, the French shipping major will benefit from the group’s second container terminal which is coming up in Mundra. Already, Mundra International Container Terminal (MICT) is being managed by DP World under a sub-concession agreement. With a fleet of 336 vessels, the group serves over 350 ports of call on over 100 shipping routes. The company will add 64 new vessels between 2007 and 2010.
A warship billed as the world's most advanced destroyer has finished its first test run on the open sea.
Ninety-three years after its grand opening in 1914, the Panama Canal marked its anniversary on August 15th by celebrating the successful start of its historic Expansion Program.
