Auckland adds to Taranaki booty

New Zealand’s Energy Ministry said it would offer three more blocks in the country’s Taranaki basin for oil and gas exploration.

The blocks will be added to nine other onshore blocks already on offer in New Zealand's Taranki onshore round, Associate Energy Minister Harry Duynhoven said in a statement. I’m pleased to be able to extend the area for exploration, with the addition of these blocks which were not available at the time of the initial offer,” Duynhoven said. “The Labour-led government is promoting economic growth both in Taranaki and on a national scale by encouraging domestic and international investment in the energy sector. The ministry said technical data on the blocks and terms and conditions of the offer was available through its Crown Minerals hydrocarbons agency.
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Superferry traffic way below estimates

‘Emergency' cited by company in letter to state agency.

The Hawaii Superferry is in an 'emergency situation' with so few passengers that its ability to continue running between Oahu and Maui is imperiled, according to a letter written last month by attorneys for the Superferry. The Superferry vessel Alakai, which can seat 866 passengers, is averaging only 150 passengers per day, far below its planned ridership of 410, according to the letter from Superferry attorneys Goodsill Anderson Quinn and Stifel. The letter was sent to the state Public Utilities Commission requesting an extension of the Superferry's $39 one-way promotional fares through June 5. Attorney Audrey Ng wrote that Hawaii Superferry 'must increase its business immediately' to address weak bookings, interisland airline competition and continuing litigation and protests; to pay for fixed expenses as well as to compensate for repeated delays; and to start a second Maui trip.
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Naval-aerial war games

Russia has launched the “active phase” of naval-aerial war games in the Northeast Atlantic in the biggest display of its military power since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Eleven warships drawn from Russia’s Northern and Black Sea Fleets and backed up by dozens of aircraft began joint exercises in the Bay of Biscay off the west coast of France and the northern coast of Spain. This is the biggest exercise of its kind in the area since Soviet times. It is also for the first time that the Russian Navy has deployed a large presence outside of Russia’s immediate coastal regions since the end of the Cold War. The two-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic is part of an effort to resume permanent presence in different areas of the world ocean, Russia’s Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said. Last year Russia resumed regular global patrolling by its long-range nuclear bombers.
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SPC Norway Launches New Website

Shortsea Promotion Centre Norway (SPC Norway) announces the launch of their new website.

The new site provides users with a comprehensive overview of short sea shipping together with other services. This includes easy access to newsletters, calendar with upcoming short sea events and search engines, for example web-based port-to-port liner services. Mr. Thomas Saxegaard, Managing Director of SPC Norway, commented, 'The website also includes a new action that aims to identify and hopefully remove bottlenecks in European short sea shipping and transport logistics. This newly created initiative, known as 'progress', welcomes contributions from all parties involved in door-to-door short sea shipping.' Visitors to the new website will find the new look to be more users friendly and full of helpful information about short sea shipping. The site will be helpful for transport users and organizations seeking information about this modern and environmentally friendly mode of transport. Short sea shipping has a very positive business image. The site does a good job at describing the many advantages and features available to transport users that consider using short sea shipping.
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Maersk Line introduces a new BAF formula

Maersk Line introduced a new formula for the floating BAF (Bunker Adjustment Factor).

With the new formula, Maersk aims to provide a simple, fair, and transparent BAF for their customers. In addition, to sharing and recovering the extraordinary costs provided by the increasing bunker prices. Bunker prices have tripled within the last three years and bunker costs now constitute nearly half of the total vessel costs, up from 20 percent ten years ago. 'Today, we only recover approximately 55 percent of the bunker expenses via BAF surcharges. This poses a significant exposure to Maersk Line, and traditionally we have tried to recover this via rate increases,' says Vincent Clerc, Vice President for Pacific Services. 'With Maersk Line's BAF formula we will create more transparency, and the customers will experience a simple and fair way of applying BAF. The BAF formula has been built on principles that are common in other transportation industries like airlines and parcel services. In these industries, prices and rates reflect fluctuations in fuel prices, and customers accept this as part of doing business in an industry, which is very reliant on fuel.
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STX Group to invest in Vietnam

Sprawling maritime conglomerate STX Group said that it would set up a manufacturing base in Vietnam, investing $150 million by 2015, to expand its offshore plant business.

STX Group's three flagship companies, STX Corp, STX Shipbuilding Co and STX Engine, will invest in the project, said a spokesperson from the heavy industry and shipping-focused business group. The group has won the Vietnamese government's approval to set up a unit, STX-VINA Heavy Industry, which will mostly focus on offshore plant construction. It is yet to be decided whether STX Group would build ships from the Vietnam unit, the spokesperson added.
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Underwater defence system in place to check Sea Tigers

The Sri Lankan Navy has put in place an “underwater defence system” between Kachchatheevu and Neduntheevu (Delft Island) as part of efforts to curtail the movement of Sea Tigers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

A communication about lying of sea mines was sent to the Indian Navy. The Sri Lankan Navy wanted the Indian Navy to warn Tamil Nadu anglers against crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line. Indian anglers claim that the sea between Kachchatheevu and Neduntheevu, though within Sri Lankan territorial waters, is their “traditional” fishing ground. A section of anglers regularly crosses the IMBL for fishing. Commodore Phillip Van Haltren, Naval Officer In-Charge, Tamil Nadu, said he had received the communication from the Sri Lankan Navy on the installation of the seawater defence system. The message was passed on to Chief Secretary L.K Tripathy and other departments concerned. All Naval Detachments from Rameswaram to Nagapattinam on the east coast were alerted. “The message implied there will be serious consequences if fishing boats from Tamil Nadu or elsewhere come in contact with the explosives planted in the water.
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