Rongsheng completes world's first Suez tanker built to CSR

Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries, China, has recently held a naming ceremony for a new ship.

The ceremony was held at the newly completed Terminal No. 2 and was for the first Rongsheng-built 156,000-tonne oil tanker. Histanker is also the world’s first Suez-tanker to meet Common Structural Rules (CSR). The vessel was ordered by a Greek company, and has an overall length of 274 metres, on a beam of 48 metres and a depth of 23.7 metres.
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Pakistan shipbuilding industry to be developed on grand scale

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the government has adopted a 'vision' for new shipyards and development of shipbuilding industry on a grand scale.

He said that the government would move in this direction at a very fast pace, and added: "Together, we will ensure that Pakistan becomes a leading shipbuilding country in the region, in line with its true potential and ideal location". He was speaking here on Monday at the launching ceremony of Stus No 1--first small 'Tanker-cum-Utility' ship, being built by Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW) for Pakistan Navy. Federal Minister for Defence Production Abdul Qayyum Jatoi, Naval Chief Admiral Noman Bashir, Sindh Governor Ishrat-ul Ibad Khan, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and high officials of Pakistan Navy and KSEW were also present on this occasion. The Prime Minister said that the shipbuilding is an industry which can act as a catalyst for overall industrial development, leading to economic development, large-scale employment generation and poverty alleviation. "This is a labour-intensive industry, and is best suited for developing countries like Pakistan," he added. He said that Pakistan has a great commercially strategic location at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and abundance of hardworking manpower, best suited for shipbuilding industry.

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China's major ports suffer record throughput falls

Container shipping volumes at the mainland's two largest ports fell by the sharpest on record last month with throughput in Shanghai dropping 6 per cent and in Shenzhen by 15.7 per cent, and the situation could deteriorate.

"Chinese container ports will face negative growth in the first half and could be flat for the full year." Shenzhen's average container throughput figure masks an even worse performance in terms of containers carrying goods, or "laden containers". Last month, Shenzhen's outward-bound throughput of laden containers fell 23 per cent year on year, while its inward-bound throughput of laden containers plunged 27 per cent, according to Chinese port statistics. The reason Shenzhen's average throughput decline in December was relatively better at 15.7 per cent was that the throughput of empty containers fell only 3 per cent, explained Sunny Ho Lap-kee, executive director of the Hong Kong Shippers' Council. Shenzhen's exports will worsen in the coming months because the drop in the inward-bound throughput of laden containers last month was greater than the drop in outward-bound throughput, said Mr Ho. Inbound cargo includes raw materials and components which are processed into finished goods for export.

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Gavea declares Paca-2 discovery

The Gavea joint venture has declared the Paca-2 well on Block 330 in Brazil’s onshore Sergipe Alagoas basin as an oil discovery and suspended the well as a potential future producer, project partner Eromanga Hydrocarbons said.

Eromanga said Brazilian regulators had been informed of the discovery and the venture was readying a declaration of commerciality. The well recorded oil shows over a total of 232 metres in three intervals, including the deeper Serraria formation. The company said last week oil shows had been recorded in the Morro de Chavez member and Panedo formation before drilling deeper. The well has now been sunk to total depth of 550 metres, and electric wireline logs and initial formation testing identified up to three zones for further production testing.

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Hamburg Sud christens ship in Chile

Germany-based Hamburg Süd has christened a container ship in Chile in a ceremony which took place in Valparaiso.

The ‘Cap Graham’ is one of a series of three identical 4,294TEU charter vessels of Norddeutsche Reederei H. Schuldt. Together with her two sister ships, the ‘Cap Gilbert’ and ‘Cap Gregory’, as well as Hamburg Süd's Bahia-class vessels, the ‘Cap Graham’ will sail in Sling 1 of the Hamburg Süd liner service between Asia and South America West Coast. Sponsor of the ‘Cap Graham’ was Elizabeth McPherson Cisternas, Corporate Executive Vice President Logistics and Marketing Services for Codelco Chile, the largest producer and exporter of copper worldwide. The 53,480DWT ‘Cap Graham’ has an overall length of 264 metres and a beam of 32.2 metres. It has a container capacity of 4,294TEU and 400 reefer plugs.
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