Internet provider in UAE confirms undersea cable cut

An undersea cable had been cut in the Persian Gulf, causing severe phone line disruptions and compounding an already existing Internet outage across large parts of the Middle East and Asia after two other undersea cables were damaged earlier this week north of Egypt.

Omar Sultan, chief executive of Dubai's IPS DU, said that the incident was very unusual.'' He said it was not known how the underwater FLAG FALCON cable, stretching between the United Arab Emirates and Oman, had been damaged. The situation is critical for us in terms of congestion'' on international lines, Sultan told The owner of the FALCON cable, U.K. FLAG Telecom said the cable was cut at 05:59 GMT Friday, 56 kilometers (34.8 miles) off the coast of Dubai and that a repair ship has been notified and expected to arrive at the site in the next few days.'' The U.K. company is also the owner of one of the undersea cables that were sliced Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea. That damage triggered wide Internet outages, hampering businesses and private usage across the Mideast and Asia. As in the case of the Mediterranean damage, which Egyptian officials said was caused by a ship's anchor when a vessel couldn't dock in the port of Alexandria, there was also speculation that an anchor had sliced the Persian Gulf cable.
Read More

Construction begins on Yen Hung shipyard

Vinashin breaks ground on the US$281 million Yen Hung Shipbuilding Complex in the north-eastern province of Quang Ninh.

Pha Rung Shipyard under the Viet Nam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) began construction of the Yen Hung Shipbuilding complex in Dong Bai Industrial Complex in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh. Covering 400h hectares, the VND4.5 trillion (US$281 million) project will feature a shipyard, an auxiliary and repair facility and a ship engine factory. The 214-hectare Yen Hung shipyard will cost VND1.46 trillion (US$91 million). It is expected to build between 10-16 vessels of 70,000 DWT a year once operational in 2012. After that, the shipyard may be expanded to build larger ships of up to 150,000DWT. The VND1.49 trillion (US$93 million) Yen Hung repair and auxiliary facility hopes to be operational by the end of next year. It is expected to repair between 20-40 vessels of 50,000 DWT a year. The Vinashin-Man-Pha Rung factory is also scheduled to be finished by late 2009. A large portion of its total investment capital of VND1.5 trillion (US$93.7 million) will be spent on modern technology. It is hoped that the factory will produce around 40 engines a year.
Read More

Dubai ship sinks off Manama

A cargo vessel owned by a Dubai-based businessman carrying rice to war-torn Iraq sank 30 nautical miles off the coast of Bahraini capital of Manama early yesterday.

Strong winds that hit the Gulf were said to be the cause of the ship’s sinking. However, 17 Indian crew members were rescued by Bahrain Coast Guard while they were found floating with their life jackets on. Narendra Shial, who owned the ill-fated Indian-flagged vessel, Siddnath, said, “All the crew members are safe and recovering in the Coast Guard Hospital in Manama.” The vessel had left the Indian port of Mundra in Gujarat on January 22, carrying 1,000 tonnes of basmati rice chartered by an Iraqi businessman to distribute in the southern part of war-ravaged country. The vessel was heading for the Iraqi port of Khor Zubair.
Read More

TMT seeks to hire more super tankers

Taiwan Maritime Transport, a Taipei-based shipper and trader of freight derivatives, hired three supertankers and wants more, expecting higher rental rates.

TMT hired the very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, Shinyo Navigator, Safwa and Maritime Jewel for 90 to 120 days at fixed daily rates, head of research T.C. Chang said. 'We think the VLCC market should be going up because demand is still there,' Chang said. Tanker rates have slumped 73 percent since November 13 as brokers judged there are too many vessels available and amid speculation, a US recession would curb demand for crude oil from refineries. Rental rates posted the biggest two-month gain in at least 16 years in November and December. TMT hired the vessels for about US$60,000 a day, from Nor Ocean Stockholm AB, Simpson.

Read More

Five navy sailors killed in accident

Five Indian Navy sailors were killed on Friday and three injured in an accident.

The accident occured during an exercise on board the Navy's new ship INS 'Jalseva' in the Bay of Bengal. The incident happened while the ship was exercising between Visakhapatanam and Port Blair. The cause of the incident and other details are being ascertained, adding medical supplies and other reliefs to treat the injured were sent to Port Blair.
Read More