NOL readies bid of up to $7bn for Hapag-Lloyd

Singapore: Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. is ready to make a cash offer for Hapag-Lloyd of $6 billion to $7 billion and is confident of winning the German container shipper despite an expected bid from a consortium led by the German city of Hamburg.

" NOL is expecting Hapag's formal invitation for bids at the end of this month or early June. Once the request for offers lands, the bid will be made," said one of the people. Hapag-Lloyd, the shipping arm of German tourism company TUI AG, has held talks with NOL about a possible takeover since the beginning of the year. A deal would make NOL the world's third-largest container-shipping firm by capacity. NOL Chief Executive Thomas Held confirmed last month that he was interested in buying Hapag-Lloyd, and TUI said it was in the process of approaching potential buyers. One rival bid likely will come from the city of Hamburg, which has taken a 20% stake in a consortium that plans to make an offer for Hapag-Lloyd, Hamburg Financial Secretary Michael Freytag said. While the consortium would give Hamburg an indirect stake in Hapag-Lloyd, Mr. Freytag said the city doesn't rule out taking a direct stake. Other members of the newly formed consortium are German logistics company Kuhne Holding AG and Hamburg private bank M.M. Warburg & Co.

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MOG's Ombrina Mare 2 provides 'very good results'

Mediterranean Oil & Gas had good results from a horizontal side track well drilled inside the carbonate reservoir at the Ombrina Mare 2 well offshore Italy.

MOG's geological prognosis and the oil appraisal expectations have been met. Transocean jackup George H. Galloway drilled the well to a total depth of 2,145 metres (7,037 ft) in 20 metres (66 ft) of water in the Adriatic Sea. A production test to verify the oil production rates obtainable should get underway in the next few days and be completed by the end of the month. MOG CEO Sergio Morandi said, "The programme to appraise the Ombrina Mare oil and gas field continues to provide very good results. The horizontal well has now appraised the Ombrina Mare structure for a considerable distance away from OM1 and encountered significant oil shows along the entire horizontal hole. Once the full production test is carried out we will be in a position to commission an assessment of the field volumetrics and reserves based on the appraisal results."

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ODC Marine launches new passenger vessel

French-owned Dalian ODC Marine, based in Dalian, China, has just completed a new Bureau Veritas-classified passenger vessel for Corsica, France, designed by Laurent Fourré.

To be operated by Via Mare, the aluminium vessel is 18.3 metres long, and has a displacement of 16.25 tonnes. It is propelled by a pair of 300kW Cummins main engines for a maximum speed of 22 knots and cruising speed of 20 knots.

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Port of Melbourne's fee changes to fund infrastructure

Both loaded container wharfage and empty container charges remain unchanged in the revised Reference Tariff Schedule for port charges which will apply from July 1, 2008, Port of Melbourne Corporation announced.

The new tariff schedule follows the introduction of an amended tariff schedule on April 1, 2008 to recover the costs of the Port Philip channel deepening project, previously announced on 21 December 2007. Under the new schedule, wharfage charges for loaded TEUs remain unchanged at AU$35.50 plus GST (US$33.96), and empty container charges have also been held constant at AU$9.00 plus GST per TEU. Similarly, there are no changes to the infrastructure levy of AU$31.50 plus GST to fund the channel deepening project. PoMC says a moderate price increase has been applied to channel access charges and reflect increased operating costs and planned investment. Passenger cruise vessels were subject to tonnage dues for the use of the channels and navigational aids for the first time in 2007. These vessels will be subject to a tonnage rate of 40 per cent of the published rate to provide for long-term development and improvement of Station Pier, home to Melbourne's growing number of cruise ship visits.

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CMA CGM maintains calls in French ports

CMA CGM maintains calls in French ports and sets up emergency response team for Marseilles customers.

As French ports continue to struggle with serious disruptions, Marseilles-based CMA CGM, France’s largest and the world’s third largest container shipping company, has decided to maintain its calls in ports throughout the French mainland. CMA CGM currently serves the ports of Marseilles, Fos, Le Havre, Dunkirk, Rouen, Brest, Bordeaux and Montoir de Bretagne, making over 40 weekly calls from ports around the world. The Group is doing its utmost to maintain its regular schedule. With regards to Northern France, if stevedoring operations are suspended for vessels in Le Havre, CMA CGM plans to redeploy vessels first to Dunkirk so that customers will not have to bear the added expense of repatriation and shipment of their cargo to and from foreign ports. For the Marseilles region, in spite of disruptions, CMA CGM has decided to continue calls in Fos and has set up an emergency response team. This team is charged with providing information to customers and shippers affected by the strikes and, if necessary, finding solutions to their problems.

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STX in $430m Azerbaijani yard jv

South Korea's STX Shipbuilding Co said it and two companies in Azerbaijan have agreed to build a $430 million shipbuilding yard in the Caspian country.

Under an agreement, STX will have a 25% stake in the factory, while State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic, or SOCAR, will own 65%. Azerbaijan Investment Co. has the remaining 10%, the Korean builder said in a statement. Construction of the factory will be completed by the end of 2011, it said.

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Hijacked vessel freed; crew safe

Ten Indians on board the hijacked ship, M V Victoria, have been released and they are safe, the Directorate General of Shipping said in Mumbai.

The other crewmembers and the cargo of the vessel, which was hijacked on May 17 near the Somalia coast by heavily armed pirates, are safe too, DG Shipping said. "This Directorate has received information that the vessel M V Victoria has been released from the pirates. Crew and cargo are safe," DG Shipping said in a statement. There were 21 crewmembers, including Pakistanis, Myanmarese, Bangladeshis, Kenyans and Tanzanians on board the ship when it was hijacked. The ship was carrying 4,200 tonnes of sugar between Mumbai and Mogadishu. The vessel is now moving to Mogadishu Port for discharging, it said. "Two Somali security guards are onboard with small arms for safe passage," DG Shipping said. The ship is owned by Sharjah-based Five Seas Company and operated by Sharjah-based Marwan Shipping. Hijacking of Victoria is the third such incident reported in Somalia in the last five months.

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