News

The UK’s Port of Southampton has embarked on a £12 million (US$15.7 million) project to significantly increase capacity at its Ocean Cruise Terminal so it can handle larger ships and a greater volume of cruise traffic. Port operator ABP Southampton will work with UK-based construction firm Graham to renovate both the terminal building and the quayside, aiming to have work completed ahead of the arrival of P&O Cruises’ first-ever LNG-powered ship Iona in summer 2020. The 5,200-guest vessel will homeport at Southampton and will be joined by a yet-to-be-named sister ship in 2022. Graham will make several major modifications to improve passenger flow in the terminal building.

Jaime Vieira dos Santos, president of Leixões Port Community, has publicly criticised the way the SEAL trade union has undertaken its recent struggles with port management. Speaking at the Portuguese Logistics Association’s ‘Shipping and Ports’ seminar, he noted that unions have persistently tried to close down ports and that their way of conducting business reflected a “medieval world of port work”.

Contecon Guayaquil SA (CGSA), the Ecuadorian subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), welcomes the recent decision by the Guayaquil government to dredge and maintain the channel leading to the Port of Guayaquil. Through an international tender, the Technical Commission of the Municipality of Guayaquil last 5 October awarded a 25-year concession to the Luxembourg-based Jan De Nul Group, which will undertake the dredging and maintenance of the 95-km main access channel leading to the port. With dredging works expected to be completed within the first year of the concession, mega vessels will soon be able to enter the port even with a 12.5-meter draft at high tide, from the existing access channel depth of 9.6 meters.

Coal shipments from the Port of Gladstone in Australia rose to a 22-month high in October on a strong lift in exports bound for India and South Korea, data released by the Gladstone Ports Corporation on Tuesday showed. A total of 6.69 million mt of coal was shipped from the Queensland port in October, up 10% year on year and 16% from September, the data showed. About 70% of the coal handled at Gladstone is metallurgical coal, GPC said.

Cruise passenger numbers hit an all-time high at Port Canaveral in Florida, US this year, helping the port to generate more than US$103 million in total revenues for the 2018 financial year. The number of passenger movements at Port Canaveral rose by 7.7% from 2017 to reach 4,568,431 in 2018. The port’s operating revenues for 2018 reached US$101.72 million, an all-time high for multi-day cruise ship passengers at the port. The figures are US$8.44 million above last year’s reported revenues and a 120% jump from 2008.

Port Qasim dock workers continued their sit-in for the acceptance of their demands on the 40th consecutive day outside the Karachi Press Club. A sit-in camp had been established at the press club by the Port Qasim Authorities (PQA) Workers Union to press the authorities to accept their demands. They have been protesting against the PQA and a Chinese cargo management company.

Incat Crowther has designed the world’s first fast ro-pax ferry with dual-fuel LNG engines for Mediterranean shipping company Baleària. The Incat Crowther 125 ferry will be the first to use four dual-fuel reciprocating engines that each provide 8,800 kilowatts of power from Wärtsilä. By using LNG fuel, Baleària will be able to reduce its carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, and eliminate sulphur oxide and particulate matter emissions.

the ships that are planned for the GAPOG port for November and December 2018 from CAP TOWN

Miami based Victory Cruises Lines will charter an X-bow expedition cruise ship from SunStone Ships. The cruise ship with the Ulstein designed bow will be built in China to be delivered in 2021. http://cruisedeck.de/x-bow-expeditionsschiff-fuer-victory-cruise-lines/

About 34 vessels expected at seaports across the country, particularly in Lagos, may be impeded by dockworkers’ strike.This was contained in the Shipping Position issued yesterday by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). It revealed that many of the vessels are conveying Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol, Automated Gas Oil (AGO) or diesel, and general cargo goods, as well as sugar and wheat. The vessels, slated to arrive Lagos pilotage district from today to the end of the month might be in jeopardy, as dockworkers have endorsed the strike and are ready to shut the ports from business activities.However, four vessels that are waiting to be berthed and eight motor tankers that have already arrived the ports might be affected by the industrial action.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. opened Terminal A – the largest cruise terminal in the US – at PortMiami in Florida on 2 November. Designed by architecture firm Broadway Maylan, the 17,000-square-foot terminal was built on land leased by Miami-Dade County. The facility has been dubbed the ‘Crown of Miami’ because its structure evokes the points of Royal Caribbean’s crown and anchor logo when viewed from the water, as well as the ‘M’ of Miami when viewed from the east or western approaches, and waves rising or ships passing when seen from the terminal side. Terminal A was constructed in compliance with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards and is equipped with advanced technologies to enhance the waiting areas and expedite the boarding process. The terminal will serve as a homeport for Royal Caribbean International’s 5,400-guest Oasis-class ships, such as Allure of the Seas and the new Symphony of the Seas

RAK Ports used the occasion of SeaTrade Maritime Middle East 2018 to unveil the opening of the first of two new deepwater berths constructed at Saqr Port. The deepwater berth project at Saqr Port has been ongoing since mid-2017 and is one of the largest engineering initiatives to have taken place in the northern emirates in recent years. The first berth was completed earlier in October this year and is now fully operational, a fact which was both widely publicized and discussed by the attendees of SeaTrade Maritime Middle East 2018. The event took place in the Dubai World Trade Centre from October 29th – 31st and is the region’s premier maritime exhibition.

(Reuters) – British engineering and defence firm Babcock International said on Thursday it was closing its Appledore shipyard in Devon, a “difficult” decision after orders ran out. Babcock said it hoped to offer all 199 employees at Appledore positions at other Babcock facilities, such as nearby Devonport, which is a British Navy dockyard. The southwest England Appledore yard completed an Irish Navy order for an offshore patrol vessel in the last few weeks but was not engaged in any orders from Babcock’s main client, Britain’s Ministry of Defence.

Estonia’s Port of Tallinn (Tallinna Sadam) and AS Alexela Invest have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly working on the possibility of the development of an LNG terminal to serve LNG tankers and bunkering, and establishing port facilities for loading and unloading LNG on the Pakri peninsula by the Lahepere bay in Paldiski.

The Sture terminal and the Kollsnes plant resumed operations Thursday afternoon after being shut down in connection with the collision between the frigate KNM Helge Ingstad and the tanker Sola TS at the Sture terminal early Thursday morning. Also North Sea installations affected by the shut-down of the two onshore plants are gradually starting up again.

Shree Ram Group said Thursday the European Commission has audited its recycling yard at Alang in Gujarat for the inclusion in the EU list of approved ports. The facility is among the first Indian yards audited by the European Commission and its inclusion in the EU list could help accelerate the transformation underway in the ship recycling industry in India, the company said in a statement. The European Commission (EC) visited Alang to assess two of the 11 Indian yards which have applied to be included in the EU list of yards where EU-flagged vessels can be dismantled.

Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port has received the Jin Tai Feng, a ship carrying 82,498 tons of corn. It is 235 meters long and draws 13.50 meters. It is the largest ship the port has ever received. This comes after development projects launched last year by the Saudi Ports Authority to strengthen the services at the Kingdom’s ports and to upgrade their capabilities and efficiency. The Yanbu commercial port handled 413,824 tons of various types of general cargo during July 2018 compared to 141,066 tons during July 2017 — an unprecedented increase of 193 percent. The Kingdom is working relentlessly to build a solid ground for the status of the Saudi Ports Authority as a leader in the ports sector which links the national economy with the international market.

indonesia

Iran, Afghanistan, and India believe the Chabahar port in south-east of Iran, which is being developed by Indian investors, will play a vital role in the future economy of region, particularly in that of the crisis-hit Afghanistan. India, Iran and Afghanistan have been involved in negotiations on the development of the Chabahar port since 2003. Chabahar was stuck and delayed for a long time due to the UN sanctions on Iran. The Indian government rushed in after the lifting of UN sanctions, earlier the same year (2016) on January 16 with the signing of JCPOA, the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, before the situation deteriorated again. India, Iran and Afghanistan finally signed Chabahar port agreement on May 23, 2016.

Finland-based construction and engineering companies Deltamarin and Elomatic to provide engineering, design and site services for Dream Cruises’ second Global Class ship. Both companies were contracted by MV Werften, the Germany-based shipyard owned by Dream Cruises’ parent company, Genting Hong Kong. The contract was signed following their successful collaboration on the first Global Class ship, which is currently under construction at MV Werften. “We are very happy that MV Werften continues to trust in our expertise and ability to design world-class cruise ships and we look forward to designing the second vessel in this remarkable Global class series,” said Patrik Rautaheimo, Elomatic CEO. Set to be 342 metres long and more than 46 metres wide, the 204,000gt newbuild has been designed specifically for the Asian market.