Dioryx Maritime receives MV Argolikos, first ever container ship to be made in Philippines

President Arroyo led Philippine and Korean officials in the launching yesterday of the first ship built in this freeport zone – the MV Argolikos, a $60-million container carrier.

Last May 29, representatives of the Hellenic shipping firm, headed by Mr. D.Papadimitriou, that ordered Argolikos, and Bureau Veritas, a Paris-based conformity assessment, certification and inspection and testing company, witnessed the sea trial of the ship. Pyeong Jong Yu, manager of Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp.-Philippines outside business department, reported to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) that M/V Argolikos successfully passed the sea trial. The container carrier has a gross weight of 41,000 tons, length of 258.9 meters, width of 32 meters, and height of 19 meters, Yu said. He added that prior to the sea trial, Argolikos had been issued an attestation by Bureau Veritas as well as a cargo ship safety equipment certificate, a complete crew list, and a certificate of competency for the Korean crew by the Busan (Korea) Regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Office. SBMA Chairman Feliciano Salonga said the successful sea trial of the container carrier marks another milestone for SBMA as it sets its focus on the growing maritime service and logistics business. The Argolikos was to be the first of six container vessels lined up for delivery to Dioryx Maritime Corp. starting 2009, Salonga said.The ship is named after Argolikos, a small gulf located at the east coast of Peloponnese, Greece, which opens into the Aegean Sea.

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Malaysia's Sealink International to list

Malaysian shipbuilder and offshore vessel owner Sealink International is looking to raise as much as MYR 141.71m ($43.4m) from its listing on the main board in Kuala Lumpur.

The cash from the 128.37m shares will be used to expand its yards and fleet of support ships, anchor-handlers and barges. "We want to expand our fleet of 29 vessels to 40 vessels in the next three years. At least MYR 300m is needed over the next three years for this expansion. We need larger landing craft of up to 72 metres and anchor handling tugs and supply vessels of up to 12,000 brake horsepower," chief executive officer and deputy managing director Yong Kiam Sam said. Furthermore, between MYR 50m and MYR 100m will be spent over the next three years to upgrade its two shipyards in Miri.

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Liberia opens up offshore blocks

Liberia has opened a second licensing round for offshore oil acreage, with three international companies.

‘Bidding was for a total of five blocks’. Minister for Land, Mines and Energy Eugene Shannon said. The three companies taking part were Anadarko Petroleum, Luxembourg's Mittal Investments and Hong Kong Tongtai Petroleum.

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Container volume on Yangtze River up 38 per cent

In 2007, the Yangtze River, the longest and most important river in China, experienced a record high volume of container transportation.

The river shipped 5.54 million TEU in 2007, which is an increase of 38 per cent compared to 2006. The average utility of the Yangtze River still holds great potential to rise. Most of the cargo is transported in low reaches where shipping conditions and economic environments are better. In 2007, two-thirds of all the cargo was shipped in the extent from the river mouth to the city of Nanjing, 300 kilometers from the mouth. The main reason for the volume increase is the dredging projects carried out alone the river. By the summer of 2009, the Three Gorges, the largest water conservancy project in China, will be completed. A 10,000-tonnage barge will be able to sail from Chongqing to Shanghai on a 2,500-kilometre waterway.
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Japan threatens to resume whaling

Japan has threatened to resume commercial whaling after a suspension of over two decades.

The threat was issued alongside a demand for progress in negotiations at the International Whaling Commission, the body meant to act as a forum for mediation on the controversial issue. Japan holds firm to its perceived right to hunt whales and is reluctant to compromise, for fear it would encourage other legal restraints on related issues such as its extensive tuna fishing activities. Meanwhile, activists continue to speak out against Japan's continued exploitation of the 1986 memorandum on commercial whaling.

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