French port reform hangover spells mixed results at Marseilles-Fos

Cargo throughput at the port of Marseilles-Fos in France totalled 64.27 million tonnes to the end of August, a one percent drop on the first eight months last year.

Strong performances in the oil and liquid bulk sectors could not offset the impact of industrial action from mid-April to the end of June over the French government’s port reform proposals. Container traffic suffered most, slumping 16 percent at 5.6MT and 551,000TEU – with key east-west volumes handled at Fos falling 22 percent to 366,000TEU. The box deficit left general cargo eleven percent worse for the period on 10.36MT, although ro-ro traffic rose three percent to 3MT due to growth from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. Oil and oil products throughput improved two percent to 42MT. Sustained demand for pipeline deliveries to Germany and Switzerland saw crude imports rise two percent to almost 30MT, while refined products were up seven percent on 8.35MT. Also maintaining previous gains, liquid bulks rose 16 percent to 2.56MT – boosted by 0.6MT (+61 percent) in bio-fuels – but dry bulks fell four percent to 9.26MT due to an eight percent drop in steel industry ore imports, which represent two-thirds of the trade. Passenger volumes slipped one percent to 1.455 million. The total on ferry services to Corsica and North Africa - down six percent to 1.13 million passengers – was affected by declining Algerian demand, which fell 18 percent to 278,000. But cruise volumes rose 22 percent to 327,000 for the eight months and by 40 percent to 75,000 passengers in August alone. Home port embarkations now represent a quarter of the Marseilles total – up 43 percent year on year and 143 percent for the month – and have become the main driver of the port’s cruise business.
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Expert Delegation from Japan visited Cochin Port Trust

The expert delegation from Ocean Policy Research Foundation, Tokyo, Japan visited the maritime development project areas in Vallarpadam and Puthu Vypeen today.

The visit of the experts is aimed at observing and assessing the potentials of the ports in the southern coast of India from their specific viewpoints of shipping, civil engineering and logistics etc. The team will identify the potential of the port by taking into account the distinguishing features of respective region where the port is located and work out practical proposals to help develop maritime infrastructure. Apart from Cochin the team is also visiting the ports at Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Tuticorin. The report regarding the visit will be provided as the informative reference for the Japanese maritime industries sector, which is attentive to India as a promising business frontier. The team comprises Mr.Yutaka Fukushima, Deputy Senior Researcher, Overseas Coastal Area Development Institute of Japan, Mr Keiji Iwata, Deputy General Manager, Dry Bulk Carrier Supervising Office, Mitsui O.S.K Lines Ltd., Mr Shinichi Oi, General Manager, Marine Technical Department, M.O. Marine Consulting Ltd., Mr Yoshihisa Imai, Senior Research Fellow, Ocean Policy Research Foundation and Mr Takehisa Imaizumi, Advisor, Policy Group, Ocean Policy Research Foundation. The expert team is accompanied by Mr P Sasikumar and Mr J P Saini, Under Secretaries from Ministry of Shipping, Government of India.
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Hapag-Lloyd sale the hot topic as SMM closes

Hamburg: Parent TUI’s efforts to offload its boxship division have been greeted with initial bids far below the expected 4-5bn euros, with neither NOL of Singapore nor a Hamburg consortium putting in bids of more than 3.3bn euros, according to sources close to the deal.

As the world’s largest maritime trade fair, SMM in Hamburg, comes to be closed all eyes will return to the future of the city’s container line, Hapag-Lloyd, the source of much conjecture. Parent TUI’s efforts to offload its boxship division have been greeted with initial bids far below the expected 4-5bn euros, with neither NOL of Singapore nor a Hamburg consortium putting in bids of more than 3.3bn euros, according to sources close to the deal. Now speculation among the congested byways at SMM is that TUI will abort the sale, potentially a huge embarrassment to senior management as the transaction fell victim to a downward container cycle. Final bids are due in by the end of the month. ‘I just can’t see them offloading it now, it will remain part of TUI,’ said a source close to the transaction. However, there is an outside chance that the Hamburg consortium might raise their bid, especially following the news this week that German regional state lender HSH Nordbank is joining the consortium.
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Deepwater to Build Offshore Wind Farm

Rhode Island picked Deepwater Wind to develop an offshore wind farm expected to cost more than $1b and provide about 15 percent of the state's electricity.

The wind farm was expected to generate about 1.3 million megawatt-hours a year. Rhode Island selected Deepwater after reviewing seven bids on its April request for proposals to build an offshore wind farm. Deepwater was established to develop utility-scale offshore wind projects in the northeast United States. To help seal the deal, Deepwater pledged to make a significant investment in the state of about $1.5 billion with the construction of a regional manufacturing facility in Quonset and creating up to 800 direct jobs with annual wages of $60 million. The Quonset facility will manufacture support structures upon which the turbine and its tower are based that will serve the entire northeast. To help pay for the project, the governor recently urged the state Public Utilities Commission to require the state's power company, National Grid, to enter into long-term energy contracts with renewable generators, like Deepwater. Deepwater will now enter a 90-day period to negotiate a formal development agreement with the state. The final agreement will include Deepwater Wind's total commitment to Rhode Island, including the establishment of a manufacturing headquarters in the state and the reimbursement of the cost of the permitting process. Final approval of the project is contingent on multiple regulatory approvals from both the state and federal governments.

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Shipping Market Sinks Most in 9 Years on Steel Output

Commodity investors' expectations for a rebound in shipping rates are collapsing as Chinese steel mills reduce production and economic growth sputters.

Shipping investors, analysts and brokers from New York to Oslo cut their forecasts for fourth-quarter rates by 17 percent in three days this week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The cost to hire a capesize vessel, most commonly used to carry coal and iron ore, will average an estimated $70,000 a day in the period, down from $84,000 forecast at the start of the week. The price to lease a capesize is falling the most in at least nine years, according to the benchmark Baltic Exchange index. Leasing costs may continue to decline because steelmakers are scaling back production and two of the world's fastest- growing economies, Russia and China, are slowing based on estimates from the International Monetary Fund and economists surveyed by Bloomberg. ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, said Sept. 17 it could cut output 15 percent in Europe and the U.S. to support prices. ``It will just keep going down from here,'' said London- based Andreas Vergottis, the research director at shipping hedge fund Tufton Oceanic Ltd. who correctly predicted the plunge a month ago. Prices won't ``find resistance'' until they've fallen about another 50 percent, he said Sept. 23. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., Japan's largest operator of iron- ore ships, dropped 6.3 percent to its lowest in almost two years in Tokyo. China Cosco Holdings Co., the world's largest operator of dry-bulk ships, fell 11 percent in Hong Kong trading.

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Petrobras strikes oil above subsalt layer

Brazilian state-run Petrobras said it struck light oil south of the Santos basin in shallow waters above the subsalt layer of the ocean floor.

The area where the find was made, the BMS-40 block, could contain up to 150 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent, Petrobras said in a statement. "This find confirms the good light oil potential in the shallow waters of that basin," the company said. Petrobras had confirmed in May the presence of light oil in the block, which is 100%-owned by the Brazilian company, said Reuters. The new discovery is 5.8 miles (9.3 kilometres) away from this first find. Unlikely recent discoveries in the subsalt cluster at great depths at sea, the find was made above the layer of salt about 6758 feet (2060 metres) under the ocean floor and at a water depth of 898 feet, which should make future production easier. It is located about 200 kilometres off Sao Paulo state's coast.

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Vosta LMG and partner yard Siestas sign for two sister ships

Vosta LMG recent signed a new contract with JJ Sietas Schiffswerft of Hamburg, Germany, for the supply of engineering and component packages for each of the two trailing suction hopper dredgers being constructed.

Vosta LMG’s partner yard Siesta will build the two 5,500-cubic metre dredgers and supply them to Josef Möbuis Bau-Aktiengesellschaft, an affiliated company of the Austrian STRABAG. The first vessel will be delivered by October 2010 followed by the second one in January 2011. VOSTA LMG has developed a new modular type trailing suction hopper dredger. Through application of modular block building of sections and repeated use of standardizsd components, the building of trailing suction hopper dredger with hopper volumes of up to 7,200 cubic metres can be achieved without major design changes.

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