KG Maritime Shipping to expand fleet

Bulgaria's KG Maritime Shipping is planning to expand its fleet by 25 vessels, said 30 per cent shareholder Kiril Domuschiev.

Dnevnik a.m. reports that the group has already assigned some US$626 million to investment projects in 2008, most likely for the purchase of new vessels according to Domuschiev. Eight 34,000DWT vessels are expected to be the first deals to be negotiated.
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Hitachi completes first Wärtsilä RT-flex common-rail marine engine

Hitachi Zosen Diesel & Engineering Co Ltd celebrated the completion of its first Wärtsilä RT-flex common-rail marine diesel engine at its Ariake Machinery Works in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan.

The new engine was presented and demonstrated to an invited audience from shipowners, shipbuilders, classification societies, and other interested parties. Hitachi is the eleventh engine builder in the Wärtsilä family of engine licensees to manufacture Wärtsilä RT-flex electronically-controlled common-rail marine engines. The other engine builders are in South Korea, Japan, China, Italy, Croatia and Poland. This additional manufacturing capacity from Hitachi enables Wärtsilä to serve the steadily and strongly growing world-wide demand for the popular RT-flex engine type. The 6-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex50-B engine built by Hitachi will be delivered to Nanjing Wujiazui Shipbuilding Co Ltd in China. There it will be installed in a 1085 TEU container ship being built for a German owner. The engine has a maximum continuous power of 9960 kW (13,560 bhp) at 124 rpm. Hitachi has orders for a total of 26 RT-flex50 engines from shipyards in China and Brazil, including the engine demonstrated. The first RT-flx50 engine entered service in January 2006. The engine type has been very successful in the market with more than 200 engines already sold. They are being installed in ships contracted in China, Brazil, Bulgaria, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Argentina, and Vietnam.

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Tangshan Port to issue A shares for expansion

China's Tangshan Port Group (TSP) intends to list on the A-share market and boosts port development in the Caofeidian area in the province of Hebei.

The group will integrate the current Jingtang Port and coal collussus Caofeidian Port, both to the southeast of Tangshan city, into Tangshan Port. The proceeds from the IPO will be used for port development in the Caofeidian A area. Brand development is a major task in 2008. The group will raise efficiency of terminals and improve customer service to achieve the goal. The throughput volume of Jingtang Port soared 89.5% on year to 6.52 million tons in April.

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Santos ‘close to sale of LNG stake’

Australia's third largest oil and gas producer Santos is in the final stages of talks to sell part of its equity interest in the Gladstone liquefied natural gas project in Australia.

"Santos is currently in the final stages of agreeing and executing a sell-down of part of its equity interest in the Gladstone LNG project, which may have a material impact on the price of the securities of Santos," it said. Santos is planning to build a liquefied natural gas plant at Australia's Gladstone port, which lies in the north-eastern state of Queensland. The proposed plant, estimated to cost A$7.7 billion ($7.4 billion) will have a annual capacity of between 3 million and 4 million tonnes. Industry sources have said that Santos, which plans to operate the LNG facility alone, was expected to sell about a 30% to 40% stake in the project to an energy giant that already has expertise in LNG. The race to build LNG plants on Australia's east coast has stepped up after UK gas producer BG Group last month made a $12 billion takeover bid for Australian energy retailer Origin Energy, which holds the largest CBM resources in Queensland state. Santos, which also has a stake in a proposed ExxonMobil-led LNG project in Papua New Guinea and a share in an operating LNG plant in northern Australia, has been seeking to expand its LNG business in a bid to gain from rising prices and a forecast surge in global demand.
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'Blue Sea' launched at Barkmeijer Shipyards

The 90-metre coastal freighter ‘Blue Sea' was launched successfully at Barkmeijer Shipyards, Germany.

The vessel is being built for Tristar Shipping of Kollumerzwaag, Holland. The vessel will be equipped for unrestricted navigation and transport of all kinds of dry cargoes. ‘Blue Sea' is also laid out for the carriage of containers. The vessel is the fifteenth in a series of 4,500DWT general cargo vessels built by Barkmeijer Shipyards. Since the launch, the hull has been transported to Lemmer for final outfitting and commissioning. Barkmeijer Shipyards has planned the delivery for the beginning of July. ‘Blue Sea' will be propelled by a MAK 6M25 engine driving a controllable pitch propeller of 3,000mm diameter via a reduction gearbox. The hold is box shaped and equipped with two movable bulkheads, and provisions have been made to carry certain categories of dangerous cargoes. Barkmeijer has several dry cargo vessels for Dutch owners on order for deliveries until the beginning of 2012. A maintenance dredger is also on order for the Wales-based UK Dredging for delivery in the second quarter of 2010.
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