Orion a giant of our seas

Orion, an Australian passenger liner has made a major impact on cruising.

One of Australia's unique cruising experiences has been ranked second in a listing of the world's best expedition cruises. ‘The Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising And Cruise Ships 2008’ annual assessment examined about 350 vessels in its search for the best. It ranked Orion Expedition Cruises' four-year-old Orion second behind the Berlin-built Hapag-Lloyd Cruises' Hanseatic vessel, a luxury explorer cruise ship. The assessment focused on two categories: a cruise ship's facilities and as the overall cruise experience. The 104-metre Orion was Australia's only winner in expedition cruise ships. It has proved popular with holidaymakers for its intimate style of cruising. Orion holds 106 passengers and 76 crewmembers and despite the ship's size, there is no lack of choice for its guests. Outside bar areas, boutique shops, a hairdresser, numerous massage facilities, a sauna and ocean-view rooms fill the vessel.

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Oil slips below $94

Oil handed back early gains to stand below $94 a barrel on Monday as investors took profits.

However, concerns over the dollar’s weakness and uncertainties about OPEC’s moves to boost output continued to provide support. US light crude was 51 cents down at $93.34 a barrel at the time of going to press. It raised more than $1 in earlier trade to $95.15.London Brent crude fell 41 cents to $91.21 a barrel, off highs of $92.81. Meanwhile, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said that speculators on the New York Mercantile Exchange crude oil market had cut their net long positions last week.

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Shipping lines 'losing money' as bunker costs surge

The tremendous rise in bunker costs cause shipping lines to loose money on particular routes.

Ronald Widdows, chief executive of the global container shipping business APL Ltd and chairman of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) said a large part of the industry was operating in the red, even though 2007 had been seen as a good year for shipping. Last week a new system of 'floating surcharges' and upcoming rate increase in a bid to cover bunker costs was announced by TSA soon after Widdows comment, that said TSA members wanted a system that better reflected bunker fuel price fluctuations and that bunker costs are already forcing carriers to cut capacity on trade lanes to the US.

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Transocean lands three-year drillship contract

Transocean Inc. received a three-year contract from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. for ultra-deepwater drillship Discoverer Spirit for operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The contract is expected to commence in December 2010, immediately following the rig's existing commitments in the region. Estimated contract revenues over the new contract's three-year period are US$569.4 million, or a day rate of US$520,000. The rig, which entered service in 2000, is capable of operating in up to 10,000 feet (3,048 m) of water.

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COSCO Shanghai container centre under construction

COSCO held a foundation-laying ceremony for its Shanghai Container Centre at its logistics park in Nanhui District, Shanghai City.

Deputy Mayor of Shanghai, Yang Xiong and Vice President of COSCO, Zhang Fusheng attended the ceremony on the morning of October 27 and laid the foundations for the project. Integrated Container Development, funded by COSCO Container Lines, has been placed in charge of construction. The operation of the project covers a land area of 232,000m2 and is made up of a container yard, an examination area, four single-storey warehouses and some life. Production related facilities, is designed to handle 500,000 TEU per year.

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