The 330-metre Sirius Star, owned by the shipping arm of oil giant Saudi Aramco, was seized far off the east African coast on November 15, in what was the pirates' most daring attack and largest catch to date "All our people have now left the Sirius Star. The ship is free, the crew is free," Mohamed Said, one of the leaders of the pirate group, told by telephone from the pirate lair of Harardhere. "There were last-minute problems but now everything has been finalised." Sahafi Abdi Aden, speaking from the same town on Somalia's Indian Ocean coast, also said the hijacking was over. The amount of the ransom paid for the ship's release was not yet known. Pirates had told days after seizing the Sirius Star they wanted 25 million dollars (18 million euros) for its release but the latest reports indicated that the demand had been lowered to around 3.5 million. The Sirius Star was manufactured in South Korea and delivered last year. It is believed to be worth around 150 million dollars and its cargo was estimated at the time of the hijacking at 100 million dollars. The crew of the Sirius Star is made up of 25 people from Britain, Croatia, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Poland, where the ship's captain hails from.
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Saturday, January 10, 2009
Somali pirates say released Saudi supertanker
Somali pirates said they had freed a Saudi-owned supertanker, whose capture nearly two months ago wreaked panic in international shipping and spurred the world into tougher anti-piracy action.
New US dedicated littoral warfare systems facility
USA: The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD), a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), has held a ground-breaking ceremony for the Littoral Warfare Systems Facility.
The site will include a state-of-the-art facility, specially designed to support the research, development, testing, evaluation, acquisition support, integration and certification of littoral warfare systems. It will allow NSWC PCD to consolidate work under one roof that is now being performed in facilities spread throughout the base. LWSF also will be a centre of excellence for research, development and integration of existing and future adaptive force packages. These modular and deployable packages will provide warfighting capability to non-traditional and unconventional maritime platforms within the Navy's global maritime partnerships. The project is expected to be completed by November 29, 2009.
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The site will include a state-of-the-art facility, specially designed to support the research, development, testing, evaluation, acquisition support, integration and certification of littoral warfare systems. It will allow NSWC PCD to consolidate work under one roof that is now being performed in facilities spread throughout the base. LWSF also will be a centre of excellence for research, development and integration of existing and future adaptive force packages. These modular and deployable packages will provide warfighting capability to non-traditional and unconventional maritime platforms within the Navy's global maritime partnerships. The project is expected to be completed by November 29, 2009.
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Friday, January 9, 2009
Dubai Maritime City Progresses
Dubai Maritime City, the world’s first purpose-built maritime centre and part of the Dubai World Group of companies, continues to achieve major development milestones and confidently progresses towards its 2012 completion date.
Infrastructure for the Industrial Precinct of the unique maritime development is set to continue significantly during 2009 making it fully operational ahead of schedule with 85 per cent of the work complete. Groundwork for the Commercial Precinct is at 65 per cent, while roadwork is in the final stages. The whole project is expected to be fully operational by 2012 as originally scheduled. Dubai Maritime City is currently in the middle of productive dialogue with local and global maritime interests to determine key areas to be considered as the development prepares to assume its strategic position as the Middle East’s maritime hub. The 2.27 million square metre Dubai Maritime City is divided into the Maritime Centre, the Industrial Precinct, The Academic Quarter, the Marina District, the Harbour Residence, and the Harbour Offices. Different components of the city will be launched at different stages, such as the DMC Academy, which will be finished earlier. The appeal of the development remains solid as the global shipping industry is accustomed to the cyclical nature of both the business and the worldwide economy.
Shipping companies acquire footing in Port of Rotterdam
In exchange, NYK is giving Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), the parent company of ECT, a majority share in the Amsterdam Ceres Terminal.
Evergreen is giving HPH a 50% share in the Italian Taranto Container Terminal and is also receiving in exchange a minority share in HPH's container terminal in the English Thamesport. 11 Shipping Companies Following implementation of the recent contracts, in addition to NYK and Evergreen a further five shipping companies have an interest in the Rotterdam container sector: Cosco, Hanjin, Yang Ming, "K"-Line (together 49% interest in the Euromax Terminal) and Maersk Line (via sister company APM Terminals). APL, Hyundai, MOL and CMA CGM will join this list when the Rotterdam World Gateway terminal at the Second Maasvlakte goes operational in 2013. On the basis of current market sharing, these 11 shipping companies represent around 70% of world maritime container transport.
China Shipping and Shougang set up shipping jv
Shanghai: China Shipping has agreed to establish a shipping joint venture with one of China's largest steelmakers, the Shougang Group.
The shipowner will hold a 51% stake, while the steelmaker will hold the remaining shares in the jv. The venture, which will boast a registered capital of 100m yuan ($14.60m), is expected to begin operations in March. Its main business will be to ship steel products from manufacturing facilities, including Shougang's, to the country's coastal regions and markets in Southeast Asia.
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Shipping companies acquire footing in Port of Rotterdam
In exchange, NYK is giving Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), the parent company of ECT, a majority share in the Amsterdam Ceres Terminal.
Evergreen is giving HPH a 50% share in the Italian Taranto Container Terminal and is also receiving in exchange a minority share in HPH's container terminal in the English Thamesport. 11 Shipping Companies Following implementation of the recent contracts, in addition to NYK and Evergreen a further five shipping companies have an interest in the Rotterdam container sector: Cosco, Hanjin, Yang Ming, "K"-Line (together 49% interest in the Euromax Terminal) and Maersk Line (via sister company APM Terminals). APL, Hyundai, MOL and CMA CGM will join this list when the Rotterdam World Gateway terminal at the Second Maasvlakte goes operational in 2013. On the basis of current market sharing, these 11 shipping companies represent around 70% of world maritime container transport.
Indonesian tin exporter buys four vessels
Indonesia’s largest tin exporter, PT Timah has announced plans to purchase four vessels in 2009 in a fleet investment programme worth US$21.3 million.
The state mining company said that it aimed to expand its offshore exploration division to 50 percent of the company’s total output for 2009, against the 2008 figure of 30 percent. Timah President Director Wachid Usman said that the company would buy one large vessel and three smaller ones.
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The state mining company said that it aimed to expand its offshore exploration division to 50 percent of the company’s total output for 2009, against the 2008 figure of 30 percent. Timah President Director Wachid Usman said that the company would buy one large vessel and three smaller ones.
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