China becomes Japan's largest trading partner

China has become the largest trading partner of Japan with cumulative trade value rose 14 per cent year on year to US$191.9 billion from January to October in 2007.

At the same time Japan found itself the third largest trading partner of China. Value of trade between the two countries for the first time exceeded $200 billion in 2006. By the end of October, Japan has invested $60.8 billion in 39,334 projects in China, making it the second largest investor in China.

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Wuhan's Yangluo Port capacity to reach 150,000 TEU

Capacity of the Port of Yangluo in the middle reaches of the Yangtze of near the central city of Wuhan is expected to reach 150,000 TEU by the end of the year.

Yangluo's capacity will rise to 210,000 TEU by 2011 and surpass 260,000 TEU by 2020. According to the development plan, the city has attracted CNY10 billion (US$1.4 billion) investment for the mega logistics park which covers an area of about 670 hectares and is expected to generate revenue between CNY20 - CNY30 billion. In another deal, customs in Wuhan and Nanning recently signed a regional customs clearance co-operation memo to provide convenience for trade between Hubei and south east Asia via Nanning.

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GL Opens New Office in Vladivostok

Pushed by strong shipping investments and a world-wide shortage in yard capacity, Russia’ shipping industry is back in business.

Accordingly, the demand for classificatory services increases. With its new site-office in Vladivostok classification society Germanischer Lloyd systematically expands its surveyor network. The service network in Russia managed by Guido Försterling encompasses offices in St Petersburg, Volgograd and Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Another site-office will be opened in Novorossijsk soon. The classification society offers the full range of services for shipowners from newbuilding surveillance to International Safety Management (ISM) and International Ship and Port Facility Security audits. GL is also closely cooperating with the State Marine Technical University of St Petersburg (SMTU), jointly propagating high scientific standards and practical relevance for a first class maritime education.

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Super Computer accelerates Super yacht design

Urban Voyage, a New Zealand based 3D Design Studio have introduced Supercomputing power to the Super yacht industry through a recent collaboration with yacht owners and award winning builder ‘Yachting Developments’ in project ‘Bristolian’.

Bringing the 120ft (37m), Phillipe Briand designed composite sloop project to life, Urban Voyage were able to deliver overnight design changes and work 24-hour workdays to complete the project and its requirements. Utilizing an exclusive and ongoing partnership with Gen-i’s New Zealand Supercomputing Centre, Urban Voyage could process information with the power of the equivalent of over 1,000 cpus, thus dramatically reducing rendering time and allowing ‘on the go’ and real time changes to the project benefiting the owners, designers and builders unanimously.

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Dutch cargo ship collides with migrant boat

The crew of a Dutch cargo ship, which is thought to have collided with a migrants’ boat causing it to capsize, rescued two of the 12 passengers from the stricken vessel.

It is believed the cargo ship, the Fair partner, operated by the Rotterdam company Jumbo Shipping, collided with the smaller boat powered by an outboard motor causing it to capsize in the Mediterranean Sea. The Dutch crew also found a body in the water, but the remaining nine people are missing. The incident occurred about 200 kilometers off the Algerian coast. The migrants are thought to be Algerians who were trying to reach southern Spain. The Dutch transport and waterways inspection service is investigating the incident. The Dutch cargo ship was traveling to Oran in Algeria when the incident happened.
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Twenty years since first oil on North Alwyn platform

Twenty years ago, first oil was produced from North Alwyn platform, in the UK North Sea.

The Alwyn field, which lies 440 kilometers northeast of Aberdeen, was brought on-stream in November 1987. North Alwyn is currently one of the largest oil and gas processing platforms in the UK North Sea acting as a gathering hub for nearby fields with a production of around 140,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Since first oil, the North Alwyn hub has delivered over 900 million barrels of oil equivalent produced from the Alwyn field and from the satellite fields. The exploration and development programme that will be launched on the Alwyn Area in the coming three years represents an investment of around $800 million.
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Helix picks up SE Asia job

Houston-based Helix Energy Solutions has been awarded a $160 million, three-year contract by an unnamed oil company in South East Asia to provide a multipurpose vessel for offshore inspection, repair and maintenance operations.

Helix's wholly owned subsidiary Canyon Offshore will provide the M/V Olympic Canyon DP II vessel to begin work in April 2008 to support numerous offshore projects, said Helix. The vessel will be outfitted with two deep-water 150-horsepower Triton XLS workclass ROV systems, a variety of intervention tooling and support equipment, and a 140-tonne active heave compensated crane. Canyon has been very successful at bundling third party vessels with their robotic assets to provide key customers with a full suite of sub sea intervention.
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