French sailors set to sail again on salvage mission

Ten French sailors plucked to safety from their capsized yacht off the Otago coast yesterday will be back as they begin a mission to recover their vessel.

The crew, who were taking part in the Jules Verne round-the-world yacht race, was rescued uninjured when their craft overturned in heavy seas 80 nautical miles (145km) off the coast. Three rescue helicopters winched the crew off the hull of the Groupama III and flew them to Dunedin about 3.30pm. The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) launched a rescue mission after its equivalent in France called at 1.20pm (NZ time) to report it had picked up a signal from the yacht's emergency position indicating radio beacon. Head of Search and Rescue at Dunedin police Senior Sergeant Brian Benn said the sailors had been busy today finding a boat and organizing the salvage mission. The sailors had been well looked after during their stay in Dunedin and spent last night celebrating and reliving the day's adventures. The French Embassy thanked New Zealand rescue services. The Groupama III had just passed the halfway point in the circumnavigation, and was heading for Cape Horn after a relatively slow passage across the southern India Ocean.
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Sri Lanka to take up sea attack issue with India

The chief of the Sri Lankan Navy is to take up the issue of an attack against a Sri Lankan naval ship from a flotilla of Indian fishing boats.

Commander Wasantha Karannagoda, who is currently on an official visit to India, would raise the issue, among other things, with Indian officials. The Sri Lankan Navy said that on February 5 up to six sailors had gone missing after a naval boat was fired upon from a flotilla of 400 Indian fishing boats, which were poaching off the seas off Talaimannar in the north. The Navy said it had lodged a protest with the Indian embassy in Colombo, calling for a thorough investigation into the incident. The Sri Lankan Navy maintains close monitoring of its northern seas with India. The Navy's sea patrol troops have often been accused of firing at Indian fishing boats.
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WLDPO sets up China office in Beijing

World Logistics Development and Promotion Organisation (WLDPO) got approval from the Chinese authority to set up its China office in Beijing recently.

Mr. Xu Shouzhen was made president of the WLDPO China office, the report said. WLDPO held an opening ceremony for the China office on January 26 in Beijing and a promotion conference for mega logistics projects in China on the same day, the report said. As an international logistics organization, WLDPO will boost regional logistics development with its mature experience. The opening of WLDPO China office will better unite logistics forces of different nations to promote logistics development in the Greater China region, a statement of WLDPO said.
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DPWN chief quits after police raid his home, office in million dollar tax evasion case

German logistics giant Deutsche Post World Net CEO Klaus Zumwinkel has resigned in the face of tax evasion charges that he secreted EUR1 million (US$1.4 million) of taxable income into a Liechtenstein bank account.

DPWN executive committee of the supervisory board of Deutsche Post AG, the DHL parent company, issued a statement that they had received Mr Zumwinkel's resignation as chairman of the board of management of Deutsche Post AG and as chairman of the supervisory board of Deutsche Postbank AGMr Zumwinkel, CEO of Deutsche Post since 1990, experienced dawn police raids on his home and office. He was taken in for questioning at the state prosecutor's office in Bochum before being bailed. The UK's Transport Intelligence agency said there is widespread belief that Mr Zumwinkel's tenure would have been be shortened in any case because of an expected restructuring to address DPWN's ailing US DHL express operation and press on with the sale of Postbank.
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Wenzhou to add 10 deep-water berths in five years

WENZHOU, in Zhejiang province, plans to add 10 berths with over 10,000 tonnes capacity

Wenzhou, in Zhejiang province, plans to add 10 berths with over 10,000 tonnes capacity each in the next five year, providing basis for the 100 million tonne throughput goal in the 12th Five Year Plan period (2011-2015), Xinhua reported. The port authority of Wenzhou will lay emphasis of its work in port planning and construction and establishment of ports alliance with Ningbo port in 2008, the report said.Major port projects in Wenzhou this year will include the opening of Wenzhou-Ningbo feeder service, construction of four 10,000-tonne multi-use berths for containers in Lingkun, the inauguration of an international container service in Zhuangyuan Ao port area, which follows the completion of the 50,000 tonne container berths in Zhuangyuan Ao, the report said. Zhuangyuan Ao port area will also attract calls of more container services to Southeast Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa in the coming years, the report added. Wenzhou port authority started to compile development plans for the seven port areas including Oujiang and Yueqingwan in 2007. This year the port authority will launch fundamental research to the three major port areas including Yueqingwan, Daxiaomen Island and Zhuangyuan Ao and boost the construction of two 50,000 tonne berths in Yueqingwan as well as set up strategic alliance with Ningbo port, the report said.

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Panama Ports Company receives four Super Post-Panamax Quay Cranes at Port of Balboa

Panama Ports Company (PPC) has taken delivery of four Super Post-Panamax quay cranes at the Port of Balboa.

These tandem-lift dual-hoist cranes have a lifting height of 36 metres above the rail and an outreach of 52.1 metres to span 19 rows of containers. This equipment is part of the US$300 million Phase IV Development of the Port of Balboa, which is part of a larger-scale modernization project. The delivery puts the total number of quay cranes at the Port of Balboa that are capable of servicing 19-container-wide Post-Panamax vessels at 18, more than most ports in Latin America. Commenting on the arrival of the cranes, Alejandro Kouruklis, General Manager of PPC, said, 'These four new quay cranes will significantly enhance the capacity and efficiency of the Port of Balboa by providing additional craneage to current Post-Panamax and larger vessels calling at Balboa. Therefore they will facilitate the growth of trade in the region and help transform Balboa into a mega port.'
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True scale of shipping emissions revealed

A leaked UN report shows that international shipping accounts for 4.5 percent of global emissions of carbon dioxide.

Friends of the Earth's Head of Campaigns Mike Childs said that ‘The UN study highlights the alarming growth in carbon dioxide emissions from the shipping industry. It reinforces Friends of the Earth's call for the Government to include all the UK's emissions, including the UK's share of emissions from international shipping and aviation, in its new climate change law. It is ludicrous to leave them out. A bit like introducing a drink-driving law, that discounts whisky. We hope the Government's acknowledgement that shipping must take its share of the responsibility for tackling climate change means that they will now be included.' The Big Ask, Friends of the Earth campaign for a strong climate change law, which includes UK's share of emissions from international shipping and aviation, commits the UK to cutting its emissions by 80 percent and ensures steady progress by cutting emissions by at least three percent a year.

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