Groundbreaking ceremony held for Huizhou Port's first dedicated container terminal

China: Hutchison Port Holdings and the Huizhou Port Affairs Group Company Limited held a groundbreaking ceremony last week.

The companies broke ground on two 50,000-tonne container berths at Huizhou Quanwan International Container Terminals (HQCT), which will soon become Huizhou Port’s first dedicated container terminal. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by over 400 guests, representing the municipal government, local enterprises as well as top executives from the port and shipping industries. Huang Yebin, Party Secretary of the Huizhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China; Li Ruqiu, Mayor of Huizhou; John Meredith, Group Managing Director of HPH; James S Tsien, Managing Director of Hutchison Ports China; and Zhong Jiayun, Chairman and President of Huizhou Port Affairs Group Company Limited, jointly hosted the ceremony. At the ceremony, Mr Tsien explained that Huizhou Quanwan International Container Terminals would be the first dedicated container terminal in Huizhou Port. An expressway network and two major railway arteries, the Beijing-Kowloon and Guangzhou-Meizhou-Shantou lines, connect HQCT to the Pearl River Delta and manufacturing hinterlands along the railways.

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STX Shipyard launches first China-made diesel engine

Dalian: South Korea's STX Group, said that its Chinese shipyard had succeeded in manufacturing a highly efficient diesel engine, a technological breakthrough that will help enhance its competitiveness.

The engine, made in China's northeastern port city of Dalian, would be installed on a bulk carrier being built at the shipyard, the group said in a statement. The shipyard built its first vessel in December, 2008. STX is the first South Korean shipbuilder to build vessels in China. Its Chinese shipyard was capable of manufacturing 150 high-powered diesel engines a year, STX said. Meanwhile, STX Group said its Norwegian subsidiary will sell US$86 million worth of bonds to help bolster the group's financial health. STX Norway AS will issue the floating-rate bonds and sell them wholly to Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, the group said, without disclosing the debt's maturity. There is plenty of speculation that STX is about to embark on significant staff cuts at its newly acquired French and Finnish subsidiaries.

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Russian gas set to flow through Ukraine

Russia's state-controlled gas company Gazprom said it would resume supplies to Europe via Ukraine at 0700 GMT today, nearly two weeks after a contract row cut flows to freezing European countries.

The order to start pumping gas again followed the signing of a 10-year gas contract between Moscow and Kiev and late-night talks between Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and officials from the Gazprom gas export monopoly. Officials have said it would take 36 hours or more after the restart for the pipeline system to become operational again and for gas to reach Europe, parts of which have had to ration supplies to households and business because of the dispute. "For the EU, the decisive moment will come when renewed supplies are registered at its borders," Martin Riman, industry minister for the Czech Republic, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, said after the new contract was signed yesterday. Russian media quoted Tymoshenko as saying after her talks in Moscow that under the new contract her country would pay about $230 per 1000 cubic metres of gas in 2009. That is a figure that officials in Ukraine, struggling with a deep economic slump, say they can just about afford to pay. The dispute follows a shorter disruption three years ago and has once again called into question the credibility of Russia and Ukraine as reliable energy suppliers for Europe.

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Shekou Container Terminal volume up 24 percent to 4.1 million TEU in 2008

Shenzhen's Shekou Container Terminal hit its annual throughput target of 4.1 million TEU, marking a 24 percent year-on-year increase in 2008.

SCT earlier took delivery of six new electricity-driven rubber tyre gantry cranes for its new No. 8 berth, marking the arrival of the last of ten new cranes. The No. 8 berth, which commenced operation in September 2008, has an annual capacity of 700,000TEU with a quay length of 455 metres and a depth of 17 metres. The berth, equipped with four quay cranes, can handle the world's largest containerships.

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Germanischer Lloyd acquires International Refinery Services

Singapore-based "International Refinery Services Pte Ltd" (IRS) is the latest addition to Germanischer Lloyd.

With the acquisition of the asset management expert company, the GL Group expands its service portfolio for the petroleum, oil and gas industry yet again. "With IRS, the GL Group adds substantial expertise in risk management and capacity of advanced inspection techniques," said Pekka Paasivaara, Member of the Executive Board Germanischer Lloyd in Singapore. Previous acquisitions in Great Britain, Canada, the U.S. and Malaysia over the past 18 months have strengthened the technical portfolio of the GL Group considerably. With its latest acquisition, GL will be able to provide extended services specifically to the oil and gas industry in the Asia-Pacific region. Germanischer Lloyd offers engineering consultancy, technical assurance, asset management, risk and safety consultancy, industrial inspections and software solutions to the oil & gas industry. The holistic service offering is directed at owners and operators of complex plants and installations. Complemented by the British Advantica Group, Canadian and U.S. PV Inspection, Kuala Lumpur-based Trident Consultants and U.S.-based Material Consulting Services, the GL Group's range of oil and gas services extends across the asset life cycle. With the additional expertise of IRS, Germanischer Lloyd will now be able to further extend its network and service portfolio especially in Australia, Singapore, the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region.

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